


The Last Summer

by Aprilfool1



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU fix it, Character Death?, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Horror, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Romance, Slow Build, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:53:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 121,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aprilfool1/pseuds/Aprilfool1
Summary: It's been two years since Gaea was defeated, and a new age has arrived for the Greek and Roman worlds.Jason finally has time to relax. He's spent the better part of those two years building an alliance between the two camp, and now his work is done. He isn't quite sure what's next, but he has plenty of time to worry about it. Summer is here, and what better way to celebrate his efforts than a stay at Camp Half Blood?Percy is drowning. Unable to see a future for himself in the new age, he returns to Camp Half Blood feeling stuck in the past. Jason catches him at the exact wrong moment, and won't let Percy go without having a talk. What starts out as a simple conversation soon escalates into the friendship that both of them desperately need in this time of uncertainty.The gods have gone silent, the monsters have disappeared. When a new force reveals itself and threatens the lives of everyone they hold dear, Percy and Jason must find it within themselves to help save each other.
Relationships: Jason Grace/Percy Jackson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 197





	1. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has a sit down with Percy.

“Percy, look at me.” 

Percy raised his gaze from the bed and met the blue eyes that had been staring at him for the past five minutes. What did Jason want him to say? 

“You can talk to me, you know. I won’t judge. Whatever that was… it’s okay. I’m here for you.”

Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jason might think that he was some perfect angel who could help everyone by just ‘talking about their feelings’ but the truth was, Percy didn’t feel the need to explain himself to anybody. Sure, he knew he wasn’t doing too hot, but that was his problem, not Jason’s.

Jason was sitting across from him on an unused bed. His cabin had way too many bunk beds, it only emphasized how lonely the place could be. He entertained himself by sleeping on a different bunk everyday. The one Jason was currently judging him on… that was last Friday, he thought. It had some lumps in it.

“I can tell you don’t want to talk about it, but it’s important. I’m still not even sure what happened.”

Percy shut his eyes, opened them again after flashes of that afternoon sneaked up on him. The way the dock had felt under his bare feet as he walked to its edge. The way blue water had reflected his face back at him as he stared into the depths.

He didn’t want to think about it. He was already embarrassed, and a little bit annoyed that someone had found him like that, and out of all people it had to have been Jason. He didn’t know much about the other teen, but he seemed like the type who liked to help. Not the type of person who Percy needed right now.

“I don’t want to make assumptions, but…”

But you’re going to, Percy thought. He could already see where this was headed, and that it was only another waste of time. He had spent a lot of time this summer wasting his time. His very presence in camp was him wasting his time.

“But I think I know what you’re going through.” Jason finished.

Percy stood up. He had heard enough.

“Do you? Do you know what it’s like to be absolutely unemployable? Because it turns out that people really don’t like to hire you when you have a record before you even graduate high school. Which I couldn’t even do. I had to scrape by the skin of my fucking teeth to get a GED, and it’s gotten me absolutely nowhere.”

“Do you know what it’s like to see all of your friends grow up and move on with their lives, while you just… sit there and try not still have another panic attack? Because I still have those! I thought that after all of this time, I’d be- not okay, but at least manageable, but I’m not. I had so many plans after Gaea was killed because I thought that it was over, and none of it even mattered. Annabeth and I broke up, high school went to shit. I have the chance to finally live my life the way I wanted to, and I CAN’T!” I can’t live my life!”

Jason took the yelling surprisingly well. He didn’t look angry, or even shocked. He sat there and listened. Percy hated it. He should be mad! Be mad at me, Percy thought.

“Percy, out of everyone here, I think I’m probably the person who understands what you’re going through the most. I know that I haven’t known you for very long, and we weren’t really that close on the quest, but I still think I know you. We’re similar, so similar that Hera chose us as the swap between camps. We both know what it’s like to grow up as a child of one of the Big Three. We’ve felt it’s weight everyday of our lives. I know how you feel!”

“Not just that. I know exactly what you're talking about when you say you feel like you don’t know what you want to do. Do you think I ever imagined myself where I am right now? Sure, I helped out building some relations between the two camps, but I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now! I always thought that I would live in New Rome as an training instructor after my time as Praetor ended, but now I don’t know. All of my dreams were built on the foundation on that monsters would try to eat me the second I left camp. Now? What do I do now?”

They were both standing up now, although Jason was still calm. He was shorter than Percy was, although he still managed to seem imposing just standing there. Percy could see the resemblance to his father. Anger surged within him. If Jason was going to try to match him, then he would throw it all out there. See how long the other boy lasted when he started talking about the worst shit in his life.

“I stopped Kronos from destroying the world and yet I still felt like I lost because I let dozens of campers die. I got punted into literal hell. Things kind of went downhill from there. I broke up with my girlfriend because it turns out that there IS such a thing as too much trauma. Or maybe it was the fact that every time she saw me, she imagined me at my worst moment while in Tartarus, slowly choking out a goddess with her own poison and tears. Maybe it was the smile on my face while I did it, because it felt nice giving Akhlys a taste of her own medicine. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn’t stop her nightmares because I was- and still am - having nightmares of my own. I couldn’t even be there for her when she needed me because I was- am- weak. I guess I’ll never know.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, as if to say ‘That all you got?’

“My mother gave me away when I was two, and she gave me to a literal wolf. I was literally raised by a wolf! I broke up with my girlfriend too! But it was because in the end, all we had were memories of things that never happened. Piper would mention things in passing, expecting me to remember the time we both got detention for doing a crazy stunt, but I never could remember it, because it never happened. I saw my friends and people I considered family die in the charge against Mt. Othrys, and I was the one who led that charge. You think I don’t know what it’s like to blame yourself for each and every death that happened under my command?”

“I was abused by my step father for years before I came to camp.”

Damn. Percy didn’t like telling people about that. He had hidden the finer details away from even Annabeth and Grover, and here he was spilling the beans to Jason Grace. It worked though. For the first time, Jason’s mask of calm poise cracked.

“Shit, Percy, I’m- I’m-”

Don't say sorry. You don’t even know me, Percy thought.

“I know that must have been hard on you. I’m sure Thalia told you, but our mother wasn’t exactly a peach either. Sometimes, I wonder how my life would have been different if I had stayed with her. From what Thalia’s told me, it would have been hell. I was only two when she gave me up, so I don’t have any real memories of her. But I don't care. Fuck her. She can go fuck herself for what she put Thalia through. It pisses me off that you went through that as well.”

Jason clenched his fist. Percy could see his knuckles going white. That was… different. No one had ever tried that tactic before. Jason hadn’t gone through the things he had, and yet… he knew the other boy could relate.

This was getting out of hand though. What was Jason’s tactic for somehow managing to avoid every pitfall Percy laid out? Was he really just that predictable? That pathetic?

He remembered the dock, the way he had felt as he had stared back at himself. The feeling of being an absolute failure had wormed its way into his brain and he couldn’t shake the feeling like he was holding his friends and family back. He knew it wasn’t rational, but he didn’t even care. The water was so inviting. He could just slip under the waves and disappear, and live out the rest of his dumb life underwater. 

The job search was going terribly. He had been rejected from nearly every business in the city of New York, even the programs specifically geared towards actual ex convicts. His record followed him like a ghost, always scaring off anyone who dug into his background. He had been rejected from nearly every public college as well. 

That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do in the first place. He had considered a path involving aquatic animals or something, but while he had an intrinsic grasp over biology, it wasn’t something he could put into words. He had no affinity for memorizing all of the complicated medicines and chemicals that came with the job. His dyslexia was worse than ever, and it was getting to the point where people must have thought he couldn’t read at all.

He had been staring at the water. A droplet fell. It must have begun to rain, he had thought. It had been cloudy all day, and the clouds above were darkening, ready to deliver their payload onto the camp. Another droplet fell. His cheek felt wet. It didn’t make sense for it to be the rain though, his head was tilted downward towards the water. He wiped at his face, feeling the moisture. He was crying, he realized. 

He hadn’t even realized he was crying. The thought rang through him, darkening his mood even more. Was it really that bad already? Pathetic.

“Percy?”

Percy looked up, quickly rubbing at his eyes. Jason stood there at the start of the dock, looking concerned. He had seen. 

“Are you okay?”

Stupid question, Percy thought, although he knew the other boy was just worried about someone he knew. Does it look like I’m okay?

“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry if I worried you!” He called back, turning away from Jason to look out at the lake. He had to keep rubbing his eyes to keep any more tears from falling.

It was a shitty lie, so easy to see through he might as well have not even bothered, and yet, it had been working. The other campers knew he was feeling like utter crap, but still kept their distance. He wasn’t sure if it was from confidence that he could get through whatever it was he was going through on his own, or an unwillingness on their part to get involved. There were people who tried to check on him, like Piper, Travis, Conner, Katie, even Clarisse and Malcolm, and he was sure the latter two disliked him.

He heard footsteps on the old, creaky dock. Of course, Jason wouldn’t leave it alone. He didn’t want to talk though. Percy moved to step off the dock and into the water when a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Percy shrugged the hand off and tried again. This time, two arms wrapped around his midsection and pulled him clean off his feet. 

He squirmed in the grip, trying to break away. Jason only continued to bear hug him harder. 

“Jason, put me down!” He shouted, not caring if other people were going to stare. What did Jason think he was doing? 

Jason carried him off of the dock. Okay, at least he’ll put me down now, Percy thought. Jason didn’t. He continued carrying Percy off of the dock and all of the way back to the cabins. If he wasn’t so frustrated, Percy was sure he would have been impressed at the blonde’s strength. Jason carried him all of the way back to the Poseidon cabin, only dropping him once they reached the landing. He kept a firm arm around Percy as he opened the door and guided them both inside.

Percy was sure half of the camp must have seen them. His face grew heated as he thought of what they must have thought. Percy must have finally snapped, they would think. Maybe they were right.  
Percy sat back down on the bunk. He couldn’t think of anything else to throw at Jason. What was the point? It seemed like the other teen had an answer for every horrid thing Percy told him, an experience to match. He knew that they had their similarities, but it was becoming embarrassingly obvious now. 

Jason sat down too, this time on the same bunk as Percy. He pulled Percy into another one armed hug. Percy froze. What was he supposed to do about this? He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t hug back either. He just let the other boy hold him. It was slightly nice.

When Percy had made the decision to come back to camp, he had forgotten that most of his closest friends weren’t going to be there. Nico was busy roaming the country for demigods with his boyfriend Will. Thalia was off with the Hunters, although Percy wasn’t really sure what they did now that Artemis was stuck on Olympus. Annabeth was in London at a prestigious architect school. The woman had led the reconstruction of Olympus, and she still thought she needed schooling. He could never do something like that. Grover was off saving the planet.

That left him. Yes, he did have people he could talk to at camp, but not like he could talk to those four. The people who he knew, and knew him the best. By the time he realized it, it was already too late to back out. He might as well spend the summer at camp. His mother had practically begged him to go back. She knew that he wasn’t doing well. He couldn’t let her down like this too.

So this was nice, he thought. He finally talked to someone, really talked to them. It felt like a small weight had been taken off of his shoulders. He was still carrying a full load, but every little bit helped. He leaned into the hug, just a little bit.

When he was ready to say what he needed to say, he broke out of the hug. He faced Jason head on, and extended a hand out to the boy. Jason looked at it in confusion but took it anyways. Jason's hand was rough, probably from a lifetime of sword fighting. He wondered how the other boy must have felt about all of this.

\----  


“What is this?” Jason asked, while shaking Percy’s hand for just a little bit too long.

“Uh, first stop shaking my hand, it’s awkward now,” Percy said, extracting his hand from Jason’s. “What I was going to say was that you were a little right. I needed this, and I guess you did too. I haven’t had someone to talk to in a while, so… thank you.”

Jason smiled, glad for Percy, and also glad for himself. He couldn’t get over the feeling of gratitude that he had finally found someone who he could relate to. The last two years had been incredibly rewarding, but in a way, he had never felt more alone. It became increasingly apparent when he acted as a liaison between the two camps, somehow connected to neither. He had cut his ties from Camp Jupiter, but was a member of Camp Half Blood in name only. He wasn’t Greek, and he wasn’t Roman. He was alone. Until now.

Percy looked at him, trying to read into his expression. He looked around the room, and then back at Jason.

“Uh, hey I know this is probably a little awkward and a little sudden, but-” Percy rubbed the back of his head, looking nervous. “Would you mind sleeping over here tonight?” Percy blushed bright red.  
“It’s just that I get so lonely over here all by myself, I always have. Then the nightmares… it just gets really difficult to sleep. I stay up all night just staring at the bed waiting for the sun to come up. It’s fine if you don’t want to, you don’t-”

“Okay”

“What?” Percy asked, slightly stunned by the fast answer.

“I’m guessing you’ve been inside the Zeus cabin before,” Jason said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly the most comforting place to sleep. No offense to dear old dad, but I don’t really like being stared at by an imposing statue while I try to go to sleep. This cabin is way nicer. You have a fountain, some soft lighting, hell yeah I’ll spend the night.” Jason got off of the bed, and stretched out. He checked his watch, and headed to the door.

“I’m going to get my stuff before the harpies come out,” He said, waving to Percy as he walked into the hot summer evening. In the distance, he could see some of the other campers by the fire pit, while someone sang a song. This place felt like the summer camp he had never had the opportunity to go to. Camp Jupiter was nice and all, but weakness and relaxation was always somewhat looked down upon. 

Here, campers were free to do what they wanted, so long as they got the appropriate education on how to survive. He didn’t have long to really gather his thoughts about the subject as the Zeus cabin was directly next to the Poseidon cabin. He stepped inside, and stared up at the statue for just a moment, shuddering under its judgmental gaze.

He took only a few minutes to grab some of the essentials out of his room, including a change of clothes and some toiletries like his toothbrush. He didn’t expect to spend more than the night at Percy’s, so he chose to pack his backpack, emptying out the study material he had brought for the long break onto his bed to make room in the bag. 

He left his cabin and made the extremely short walk back to the Poseidon Cabin, entering without knocking once he got to the door. That meant that when he walked in, he was greeted by the sight of Percy stripping off his shirt and slowly putting on a pajama top as he sat on his bed. Jason got an extended peek at the other teen’s bare chest, his muscles rippling slightly as he moved. Jason fought back a blush and cleared his throat. Percy moved his head towards the door, smiling once he saw Jason was back.

“Oh, hey,” He said, already sounding more relaxed. He bit back a yawn, and made a sweeping gesture towards the beds around him. “Pick any bed, it’s not like there’s anyone else here.”

Since Percy was in the middle bunk bed out of three, Jason chose the one to the right of him. He set his things on the bed, and made his way to the bathroom with a change of clothes and his toothbrush. Behind him, he could hear Percy climbing under the sheets.

“Oh yeah, the bathroom’s over there,” Percy said from under the covers, pointing uselessly towards the door Jason had already been walking to. He wasn’t even lifting his face from where it was pressed against his pillow. Jason wondered if he could suffocate like that, but decided that whatever let Percy sleep was fine by him. 

As he closed the door behind him and got changed into his own pajamas, he thought about his reaction to seeing Percy getting changed. Why had he blushed like some schoolgirl just from seeing his friend in a state of undress? It wasn’t like he had ever been attracted to men, and he would have known if he was from the bathhouse back in Camp Jupiter. And his smile. Jason had seen how upset Percy had been on that dock. Just a single smile from Percy made his chest tighten. 

Maybe it was the amount of scars that had stunned him, as even the quick glimpse at skin had revealed an impressive amount of scarring. Yeah, that must have been it, Jason thought as he lifted his own shirt to inspect his scars in the mirror. They weren't just similar in mind, but in body as well. They both had more scars on them at eighteen than most people had in their entire lives. 

Satisfied with his conclusion, Jason finished getting ready and walked back over to his bed. When he climbed under the covers, Percy finally turned from his pillow to face him.

“Thanks for doing this.” Percy said, trying to fight the sleep from his voice.

“No problem.” Jason said, quietly laughing to himself as he added, “If anything, you’re going to have more trouble getting me to leave.”

“Who says I want you to leave?” Percy said, before promptly shutting his eyes and falling asleep, not even giving Jason a chance to react.

The blush returned. Jason turned around in his bed so he wasn’t facing Percy anymore. The bed was surprisingly comfortable, way more so than the Zeus cabin’s beds. He could already feel himself starting to doze off. He didn’t even have to think about what had just happened, he was falling asleep so fast. His mind was a haze. Stupid Percy, he thought. Stop being so damn charming or else… or else…

Jason’s thoughts drifted into nothing as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my very first time trying to write a fan fiction, and I'm really trying to push myself. I was kind of disappointed with how Blood of Olympus ended because I thought it left a lot of plot lines hanging. Obviously, we now know that it was because Rick had another series on the way, but I still wasn't happy. So, I decided to try my hand at writing a what-if scenario of what I want to see happen post HoO.
> 
> First things first, I don't want to character assassinate Piper or Annabeth. Too often, I see them reduced to being horrible, mean people who dump or cheat on Jason and Percy. That's not what I'm doing. Piper and Annabeth are their own people, and they have lives outside of their boyfriends. Shocking, I know. 
> 
> There are a lot of things in this story that I am excited about, especially the events that happen around the halfway mark. No spoilers, but expect to see some new tags added around that time that completely change how this story is looked at. I'm also looking into short stories on the side, and maybe starting a collection of stories of mini vignettes from the story where I go a little bit deeper into a certain concept. That won't happen until after that halfway mark though. 
> 
> I'm going to try and do my best to update as frequently as I can, and I have some chapters stocked up. Hopefully we can enjoy this journey, and maybe by the end of the story I can stop writing such long ass chapters.
> 
> Also, I know a lot of these ideas have been done before, but I just wanted to try my hand at them. I really enjoy reading fics like this, and I want to see what could happen when I make my own.


	2. The Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stranger begins his descent.

September 2010

From somewhere above Manhattan, a piercing scream filled the night. It lasted only a moment, but it was loud enough to catch the attention from people all across the island. Pedestrians walking the street looked at each other with confusion upon their faces before shrugging and continuing on their way. Just another night in the big city, they thought, as the scream slowly worked its way out of their minds by an unseen force. Most of their minds, that is. From the top of an apartment building, a lone man stood by the edge of the roof, gazing restlessly at the sky.

There, he thought, as he stepped away from the ledge. It must have been them again, the people in the clouds. The scream had been exactly when he had been told it was going to happen, and now, as he gathered the recording equipment that he had brought with him, he would have all the reminders he needed.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and it wouldn’t be the last. Sounds and things like this were happening all across the world. Strange events were becoming more common, and yet the more people he tried to talk to about it, the more he thought he was going crazy. Why did no one else react to the video of a woman walking directly into a tree as if it wasn’t the single craziest thing they had ever seen? Why did people give him strange looks while he tried to explain to them that something was going on?

Why did the memories of these events seem to slip from his mind like an oiled snake. Why did photos seem to turn to dust in his hands as he stared at the still image of a massive, truck sized dog that roamed Central Park while no one around it batted an eye? That wouldn’t be an issue now, he thought as he pressed the save button. This recording was special. It was prophesied.

Most importantly, he thought as he clicked through the various menus in the recording software on his laptop, it was now saved to the cloud. He wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter (Don't get used to it) but prepare to come back to it later. 
> 
> I'm trying something where I focus on other characters besides Percy and Jason in the off chapters, to try and expand the world a little bit more. The original books were very focused on Percy since it was first person, so there were a lot of things that happened off screen that we never got to see. The was widened a little bit in HoO, but it was still focused on just a few people in each book. I want to try my hand at exploring a larger net of who the story focuses on. It's not just going to be the good guys.


	3. The Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason thinks about his new arrangement, and gets a gift.

When Jason woke up the next morning, he woke with a plan already beginning to form in his head. Percy had been seemingly doing okay the night before, but his recent behavior and antisocialness was still a concern. So, Jason reasoned as he silently got ready for the day as to not wake up the still sleeping Percy, today would be a test. A litmus test of sorts, to see how deeply Percy was being affected by his recent woes. Jason still didn’t know what exactly that test would be, but he figured doing something that Percy was comfortable would be the best to ease him into the swing of things again.

The first step was the dining hall. Percy hadn’t been coming as often as he should have been, and there were often entire days when Jason looked over at the Poseidon table only to see it empty throughout each meal. Maybe Percy had some other way to get food, Jason honestly didn’t care. It wasn’t good for him to not eat on a regular basis, and not talk to any of his friends. He finished getting himself ready and walked over to the side of Percy’s bed.

“Percy.” He said, 

Percy mumbled something under his breath and turned his face into his pillow. Jason wasn’t going to be ignored though. He looked around the room for something to gather water in and managed to find a bucket under the sink in the bathroom. He filled it only about halfway, as to not completely soak Percy but still give him a good fright. He had to hold back laughter in as he walked back over to Percy’s bed, and heaved the bucket. Water splashed towards Percy, and… nothing happened. It was as if the water simply evaporated upon touching the guy. Not only that, the water that had splashed onto the bed was quickly drying up as well.

“What the fu-,” Jason said, only getting cut off by Percy’s cutting glare as he finally turned over to stare at Jason. Jason froze for a second, only offering a nervous smile in return. 

“H-Hey Perce! Wide awake I see!” He had hoped to get a laugh at least, but he only continued to wither under Percy’s gaze. In the bathroom, he could hear something rumbling. It sounded as if a mini earthquake was going off, but it was only when he saw the mini wave rushing towards him that he realized it was the plumbing shaking from the stress of the massive amounts of water Percy was summoning. The wave of water crashed into him.

He was soaked from head to toe, completely ruining his morning prep from earlier. Okay, maybe he deserved some of that. He nodded slowly, silently surrendering to Percy. He turned to trudge back into the bathroom to change out of his clothes when he felt a grasp on his arm. Then, just like with Percy, he was dry again. He knew that Percy had an ability like this, but to experience it first hand was something else. It made him wonder what sort of things he could do if he tried. He never had much of an opportunity in Camp Jupiter to test out his powers as the Romans viewed most powers as an opportunity to neglect physical training. Why train for 12 hours a day if you could simply just blast a guy with enough electricity to power a small village?

“What did you want?” Percy grumbled, still not getting up.

“Oh!” Jason exclaimed, the water had thrown him off his train of thought for a moment. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to get breakfast?”

“Not hungry.” 

Jason hid a frown. Really? The last time he had seen Percy eat was… gods, it was two days ago! Again, maybe Percy was getting food somewhere else, but it wasn’t enough for Jason. 

“Fine, but why don’t you come with me anyways? I could use the company?” He offered.

He could see Percy thinking about it. He was surprisingly easy to read for such an intimidating opponent, but Jason knew how quickly that changed on the battlefield. He had seen Percy rip through monsters aplenty, his movements unreadable from one slash to the other. It was interesting how quickly Percy could change from one state to another. He remembered talking to Annabeth about it one night.

‘When I look at him, I think about the ocean. He can change just as quickly as it can too. One second its calm waters, the next...’ She had said, her eyes looking somewhere far away. Even just talking about Percy had filled her eyes with such… fondness. He still couldn’t believe the two had broken up. 

“Fine.”

Oh. Jason honestly hadn’t expected that to work. 

“Well, great!” It was kind of a dumb response, but he was still riding the small victory high of getting Percy to leave the cabin for even a moment.

Percy got ready in the bathroom, while Jason busied himself about thinking about what they could do afterwards. Training? No, Jason had seen how Percy flinched away at anything even remotely related to violence recently. He had heard from Piper that something had happened between him and Annabeth about that. Something to do with Tartarus. Percy had briefly mentioned it the night before.  
Jason wondered what that left them. The camp was kind of based around the whole concept of training, so that right there marked out a lot of activities. 

Swimming? He didn’t really care for the sport. Not that he thought Poseidon was the type to take the opportunity to drown him like Zeus would be to smite Percy out of the sky the moment he took a flight. He just had never grown a fondness for water in general. Maybe that was because of the war cannons and the damn water cannons. He shuddered just thinking about all of the times he had been soaked. Also, there was the whole winter thing. Maybe Percy could have dealt, but Jason didn’t like his own chances very much.

He was still coming up with ideas when there was a pounding on the door. Opening the front door, he was met by Katie. 

“Oh, Jason!” She exclaimed, her eyes widening a bit. 

“Hey Katie.” He greeted. “Looking for Percy?”

“Yes, but also you too. I just didn’t think I’d find you here this early.”

“Zeus cabin gets pretty lonely at night, and I wanted to make sure Percy was doing well, so I spent the night here.”

Katie smiled, as understanding bloomed over her.

“That’s so nice of you! Well, anyways, the reason I’m here is because Chiron is meeting with all of the cabin leaders for some little meetings and wanted to talk to you two first since you’re- you know, the only two in your cabins.” 

Chiron wanted to meet with them? Slightly concerning. Jason wasn’t used to being called into an authority figure’s office like this. Was this what it felt like being summoned to the principal's office? Katie seemed to understand how he was feeling, because she quickly elaborated.

“It’s nothing bad! Promise. In fact, it’s actually something pretty nice, if I do say so myself.” She laughed to herself, before patting her pocket. Jason looked, and saw something there. A long rectangular bulge was on her right leg. The object wasn’t thick, but Katie’s pockets also weren’t very big, so it was pressed up tight against her thigh, the fabric straining around it. 

He only felt more confused. Katie started to laugh even harder from the look that must have been on his face, and she turned to walk away.

“I think you’ll love it!” She called back, before heading back to her cabin. Jason closed the door, turning just in time to see Percy walking out of the bathroom, his hair slightly damp from his shower. Jason stared.

“How- How is your hair wet!?” He exclaimed. Percy looked at him with a slightly amused look on his face. In the blink of an eye, as in, a literal blink of Jason’s eyes, Percy was completely dry.

“I can choose if I want water to stick to me or not,” Percy explained. 

He ruffled his hair to get it to lay how he wanted it to. He was wearing his standard orange camp shirt and jeans. His SPQR tattoo stood out on his arm, and Jason felt a twinge of sympathy for him. The mark was honestly a bit much, even for Camp Jupiter, and he had always been against the idea of branding children. It was surprising how much that single thought almost ostracized him from the other Romans in his early days there. Percy threw on a jacket, and with that, his tattoo was covered. 

Together, they left the cabin. It was a brisk morning, but the day was bright and the sky was clear. He took a deep breath of air. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get over all of the differences between this place and Camp Jupiter. Growing up, he thought he had his whole life figured out, and it was always Camp and New Rome. Now? He was free to do whatever he wanted. It felt like he had been knocked off the course that had been set out in front of him. He didn’t exactly mind though, he thought, as he looked over at Percy. He would never have met someone like Percy if he was still there in California. 

“Oh yeah,” He was supposed to tell Percy about Chiron’s request. “Chiron wants us to meet with him after this.”

“What did I do now?” Percy said, his gaze shifting to the Big House on the hill. 

“I don’t think it’s anything bad. Katie said he wanted to talk with the cabin leaders, and since we’re both solo, we could go together. She thinks we’ll like whatever it is.”

Percy raised his eyebrows. 

“Makes it sound like a gift.” He noted. Jason thought back to the thing that had been in Katie’s pocket. Was that something Chiron had given her? 

“Maybe.”

They walked the rest of the way to the mess hall in a comfortable silence. When they arrived, there were only a few people there. It was early enough in the day where most of the camp was probably asleep or just now waking up. That meant that it was good for Percy, not being surrounded by a crowd of campers. Percy took his seat at the Poseidon table while Jason got himself food. He took a moment to send his offering to the gods, wondering if they could even hear his thoughts while they were under radio silence.

He sat next to Percy and started to eat. Occasionally Percy would chime in with a question about his time in New Rome or something menial. It was surprisingly nice to have someone to talk to. Mabe he was lonelier than he realized, Jason realized. Jason had never really had anyone to talk to like this before. There had been Reyna, but then she had made her attraction into him clear, and then it just became… awkward. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he really did. But not like that. After that, their interactions became business focused, less casual. Having a pointless conversation like this was something he had missed without even realizing it.

As he ate, he couldn’t help but notice that a lot of people were looking at them, both discreetly and not so discreetly. He noted that they weren’t just looking at Percy, like he had thought they would, but more like at the two of them as a pair. Was there something weird about the two of them sitting together? Maybe people took the whole cabin table thing more strictly than he had thought. He could see that Percy had noticed too, but it didn’t seem to be affecting him that much, which was good. Jason worked on his meal a little bit faster, and with that, he was done. Percy motioned for them to leave, and they left the dining hall. Percy still hadn’t eaten, but it was a start.

They walked to the Big House quickly, trying to get out of the cold air as soon as possible. It had been so warm inside the dining hall, which was somehow open to the outdoors, but still contained heat inside somehow. Finally, they got to their destination, the wood of the porch creaking under their feet as they walked to the front door. Before they could even open the door, it swung itself open. Chiron was there in his wheelchair from. He must have been expecting them.

“Percy, Jason,” He greeted them. They nodded to him and answered back with their own greetings.

“I’m sure you're both wondering what I’ve called you here for, so let’s get right to the ch- point!”  
He stumbled on that last word, and Jason looked at him in confusion. He had cut himself off right before he had said a word, Jason realized. Cut to the ch- chase? Had that been the word Chron had avoided? 

Oh… Chase. Annabeth. While it was charming in how Chiron obviously didn’t want to remind Percy about Annabeth right now, he had fumbled the landing there. Jason looked at Percy to see if he had noticed, but there was nothing on Percy’s expression that said so. Chiron shook himself a little, before leading them into one of the rooms deeper into the house. It was the kitchen, and the attached dining room. There was a long table in the dining room, and on it were about twenty or so bags. They were standard gift bags with little plumes of orange wrapping paper sticking out of the top. Percy and Jason looked at each other with raised eyebrows. What exactly was this?

“I can see you’re both curious, so why don’t you see for yourselves what is inside? I think you’ll both be surprised.” Chiron had a knowing smile on his face, the anticipation for their reactions evident. Whatever this was, he seemed proud of himself for it.

Jason picked up two bags and handed one to Percy. They had a little heft to them. He removed the orange wrapping paper and reached inside. It was a rectangular prism like object. He pulled it out of the bag and was met with a silver logo. An apple with a small bite taken out of one side. The side of the box was a simple name, iPhone. A phone? Something that had been prohibited from them for so long because of its tendency to attract monsters to demigods- was just being given to them? 

“As you both know, there have been no monster sightings for the past two months. While it is almost certainly not the end of monsters, I believe that the Doors of Death are taking their pound of flesh, so to speak. They were being abused so heavily by Gaea’s army for so long, and now they seem to not be letting anything out. As I said, I highly doubt this is permanent, but for the time being, I am entrusting the cabin leaders with phones. It’s the twenty-first century after all, we can’t do with not having phones for communications anymore, now can we?”

Jason stared at the box in his hand. This was huge, it felt like an unspoken chain had just been… shattered. Another limitation removed. He smiled. He looked over at Percy, and saw more confusion than happiness.

“Um, I appreciate the gift and all, but… Where exactly did you get the money to get all of these phones from?” He asked, eyes moving back and forth between Chiron and the box in his hands.  
Chiron laughed.

“I assure you, these phones were procured by honest means, Percy. We do run a successful strawberry farm here thanks to the Demeter kids after all. We simply allocated a small portion of funds to getting these, it was nothing, really.”

“Wow. Well, thanks for the gift again. I really don’t know what to say, but… wow.”

Chiron clapped a hand onto Percy’s back and gave out another laugh at the confusion on his face. Jason could see how much Chiron cared about Percy from the way Chiron looked at him. It made him feel warm inside, looking at two people who obviously cared about each other a lot just interact like this.

They stayed to talk with Chiron for a little bit longer, and every so often, Jason would catch Chiron staring at Percy. He was checking his face, his reactions to things, making sure that Percy was okay. Jason made a silent resolution to himself to help Percy as much as he could. He had so many people who cared about him, he deserved more than to feel the way he did. As if he could read Jason’s thought, Chiron turned to him at that moment and smiled at him. 

Soon they made their leave and headed towards the Poseidon cabin. It was only midday, and they were going to take the rest of the day to look over their new phones. There were apparently a lot of features included, Jason wasn’t really sure where to start. The phones had at least saved him from trying to come up with an idea of what to do. Included in the bags were a whole set of instructions, along with anote from Chiron, letting them know that wifi was on its way soon. 

They spent the rest of the day just messing with the small devices. Apparently there wasn’t a whole lot they could do until they had wifi, but just the novelty of the thing along was entertaining by itself. Eventually, he and Percy headed back to the mess hall to get a late dinner, and Jason was glad to see Percy eating again. The night snuck up on them, and with it came the part where Jason had to go back to his own cabin. 

“Jason.” Percy’s voice interrupted Jason’s thought process and he was deciding how to pack up his stuff. Jason lifted his head to face Percy.

“Today was- it was nice. It’s like- here I am again, thanking you for making me feel a little less like absolute shit. You’re a good person, and I know this is probably really desperate, but… do you… I don’t even know, combine cabins? It’s just that I feel so freaking lonely here by myself and today I didn’t so, what do you say?” 

The look on Percy’s face was slightly heartbreaking. He was really putting himself out there, Jason realized. 

“Okay, I’ll go get the rest of my things before the harpies come out.” Jason said, without even thinking about it. 

It was honestly a no-brainer. He had also felt less lonely when hanging out with Percy, and ever since their first meeting, he hadn’t thought of his breakup with Piper. Also, he hadn’t been lying the other night, the statue of Zeus really did creep him out. 

The night was ending in a similar way to last night, he thought, but also a little bit more… permanent? Not permanent, but with more permanence, he concluded. Last night he had gotten his things expecting one night in Percy’s cabin, now he was probably spending the rest of winter break there. They still had a good bit left of break, and even after that, Percy wasn’t going to school anymore. Neither was Jason, who had been fast tracked to his own GED as part of his training at Camp Jupiter. After the break ended, what they were going to do next was still up in the air.

He decided not to focus on that right now. Right now, what he was focusing on was trying to hold back his laughter as Percy tried to show him how he was able to do a cartwheel. He kept freezing right before he was supposed to throw himself in the air, and kept starting over. Eventually, Jason started cackling at him, and Percy finally gave up with an exaggerated huff.

Eventually, the lights were turned off as they both climbed into their beds. As Jason laid there on his bed, he felt like he was missing something. The night was strikingly similar to the night before, so what was different? He had been so tired he had only a hazy memory of what had happened before he went to sleep. He had thought something, he remembered. Something about… who? It didn’t matter he thought, as he closed his eyes. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been too important.


	4. The Forum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stranger makes some friends.

October 2010

Now logging into to Whats4p Forum…  
Logging in… AngelCry

AngelCry has uploaded a video to the [Sightings] tab…

Lo0Ro: What the heck was that sound at the end!  
Lo0Ro: I remember hearing about this on the news, but did anyon ever try to explain this one?  
WatchM8: I was in New York when this happened, it freaked everyone out!  
WatchM8: I think it’s them!!!  
TheMad1: Who is ‘them’ exactly?? Im new here so im not sure which one you’re refering too  
WatchM8: The sky people!! Lots of sightings in New York, i think  
Lo0Ro: I thought it was in Chicago?  
WatchM8: I love Chicago, there are lots of us there  
Lo0ro: this was in Chicago?  
TheMad1: No, this was in…  
TheMad1: This was in Chicago I think.  
WatchM8: yeah i think it was just a bird  
Lo0R0: This is obviously just a bird, not sure why op is wasting our time like this… :(

AngelCry has uploaded a video to the [Sightings] tab…

Lo0Ro: That sound at the end!!! I feel like I remember that from somewhere?  
WatchM8: Yeah I think this was… a few nights ago? I don't remember.  
TheMad1: I think its just a bird, I remember my cousin explaining it to me.  
Lo0Ro: Is it just a bird?  
WatchM8: Its totally a bird, stop wasting our time op  
WatchM8: New york isn’t even known for anythung supernatural. People thought there were like… sky people there or whatever, but thats dumb  
WatchM8: the sky people are obviously in Chicago

AngelCry has uploaded a video to the [Sightings] tab…

Lo0Ro: This is obviously just a bird cry, get this shit off the main page >:(  
Townshend23: What?? This is not a bird. I was there and it freaked people out. It was on the news too? I havent seen anyone explain it yet.  
WatchM8: Its a bird m8  
TheMad1: How can you not realize its a bird next to the camera? So fake  
Townshend23: Scroll up in your chat, whats wrong with you guys!! You even say its skly people and then you just, forget???  
Lo0Ro: Lol, you off your meds? Sky people are in Chicago everyone knows that lol  
WatchM8: Wait  
WatchM8: Were we saying something? Before?  
TheMad1: I thin you said you luv Chicago  
WatchM8: Oh yeah  
Townshend23: What is happening!!!  
Lo0Ro: Can someone please kcik town, i think they mad

[Townshend23 has been removed from the [Sightings] tab for [24 hours]

Lo0Ro: Thanks luv  
Lo0Ro: Were we doing somethin?  
WatchM8: Sky people in chicago i think  
WatchM8: I love chicago

\----

AngelCry has started a [private message] with Townshend23

AngelCry: Do you remember what's on this video?  
AngelCry has shared a [video] with Townshend23  
Townshend23: YESSSSS  
Townshend23: Finaly someone who knows what i’m talking about!!!  
Townshend23: Wait, youre the original poster  
Townshend23: What the f4ck is going on  
AngelCry: you remember?  
Townshend23: Yes i f4king remember, what is happening  
AngelCry: I’ll be in touch. Don’t forget.  
Townshend23: Wait, what? Answer my questions!! What is going on here!!!  
Townshend23: Answer nmee!!  
AngelCry: You have a gift, I think you are very special.  
AngelCry: See you soon.

AngelCry has left the [private message] with Townshend23

\----

The man looked in his notebook, and added the username to his list. This made number six. Six people so far who had shown a resilience to the effect of whatever was on the video. He himself wasn’t completely resilient, and had to play the video over and over again to get the facts to stick in his head. Some people were like that, others showed no signs at all of being influenced in any way. Townshend seemed to be one of those people.

He clicked off the website and into another tab. This one had another paranormal sightings forum loaded up. He created an account and uploaded the video to a forum. Weeding out the herd, seeing who seemed to remember what was happening around them. Too often people started out strong, only to get off track at weird times, often forgetting how their conversation started all together. He needed the strong ones who stayed on track the entire time. If his plan was going to work, he needed the cream of the crop. He looked down at his notebook again. So much work ahead of him, but god was it going to be worth it. He smiled to himself. 

Whatever, or whoever this was, he would find them. No, not just that. He was going to crush them. Destroy them. Completely obliterate the ones who had... he looked on his desk at the picture beside his monitor. Jess. Oh God, Jess. He could feel the tears already prickling at the back of his eyes.

Don’t worry sweetheart, he thought as he continued uploading the video to the forum. I won’t let you down. I’m going to make all of this right. No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited by this chapter, because I get to try my hand at some less conventional methods of writing. I have some other things planned a little bit later that twist the traditional format, so look forward to more things like this.


	5. The Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Jason have a sleepover that gets... out of hand.

The next morning, Percy woke up with a plan. Well, something vaguely resembling a plan. Yesterday had been… nice. Spending time with Jason had made him realize that it was good to have someone to talk to now and then. He still wasn’t really feeling up to returning to full activities yet, but he could feel himself loosening up. For the first time in weeks he felt like he could take a breath. A short, stuttering one yes, but it was better than nothing at all.

His plan was… messy. It involved another meeting, or whatever they were calling the talks between the two of them. The first night had been dangerous and tense. Today, Percy was aiming for something a little bit more light. Not much lighter, as everything that they needed to talk about what wrapped in a blanket of trauma and confusion, but definitely not the same level as revealing something like Percy’s breakup.

He rolled over on his bed to face Jason’s. The blonde teen was still asleep, and his hair was slightly drooping forward. When Percy had first met him, his hair had been close cropped in the style of an ancient Roman warrior. Now, it looked like Jason was letting it grow out in soft, blonde waves. It suited him, along with the new glasses that he had taken to wearing. 

Percy checked the time on his new phone. Just the concept of having a phone that he could just use whenever he wanted to was something he still hadn’t quite comprehended, even though he and Jason had spent the better part of the day before just fiddling with the devices. It gave him ideas for what he else could have. A tv? With the monsters gone would the camp border be a little bit less strictly reinforced for the older campers? 

Daydreaming over with, Percy quickly got ready with a quick shower, and a peek out the window. Laying on the open window sill was a small plate of breakfast, still hot from the dining hall. He wasn’t dumb. He knew Jason and the others had been worrying about his lack of visits to the dining hall, but he wasn’t starving himself. Instead, he had gotten a certain someone to drop him off some food every now and then. He really didn’t want Jason to figure out who though, as it would probably be a little awkward.

He finished his quick meal, and stowed the plate underneath the sink. A pile of dishes was growing day by day, so Percy would need to go return them to the dining hall soon. With his meal done, Percy left the bathroom and prepared to present his plan to Jason, as soon as the blond woke up.

In the main room, Jason seemed to be doing just that. His arm was folded across his eyes. He must have been trying to block the sunlight that was streaming directly into his face. Percy took his time to observe the other. The arm that crossed his face was toned, and muscular. Percy felt his heart tighten. A sign of envy at Jason's physique perhaps? Unlike Percy, Jason hadn’t been neglecting his training. Maybe he should do a push up or two before the day was done.

Soon after, Jason got up and did his own morning routine, which consisted of most of the same as Percy’s. As he waited for Jason to finish his shower, Percy began to think some more about what he wanted to talk to Jason about. It had to have some weight to it after all, but maybe not something that was so heavy. The tone he was aiming for was… somewhere between a tween girl’s slumber party and a therapy session. If that made sense. 

Percy’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He had the strangest sense of deja vu, a fleeting thought. Something about someone being in the shower, and someone answering the door? It must have just been a stray thought though, because the sensation quickly went away.

The person on the other side of the door was none other than his delivery guy- girl? Piper stood there, almost intimidatingly confident. She had just gone through a breakup similar to Percy, and yet here she stood, radiant and poised. She smiled at him, and he felt a little better knowing that she was okay. Piper was cool, she didn’t let things get her down like Percy had.  
“Hey Percy,” She said as she leaned on the doorframe. Next to her feet was a large wicker basket covered by a plaid blanket.

“I just wanted to let you know that some of the campers from the Aphrodite cabin were planning on doing something to you tonight. Not like, to you, but more to your stuff. I think I overheard someone suggest a panty raid? Honestly, it's pretty childish of them, and I tried to dissuade as many as I could, but you probably don't want to leave your cabin unattended tonight.”

“They're going to do what?” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, the whole cabin’s been real into reversing gender roles lately, so they thought it would be cool for the girls to break into a guy’s room and steal his underwear as some sort of reversal on the whole ‘panty raid’ thing. Not a bad idea in concept, but I tried to tell them they picked the wrong person at the wrong time.” 

Percy blushed a deep red. What in the the Hades did a bunch of girls want to do with his underwear? He tried to block any mental images that popped up. No thanks, he thought to himself.

“Uh- Im not even sure how to respond to that.” He answered. “Thanks for the warning, I guess?” 

“No problem,” Piper said, still smiling. It was obvious she found the whole situation amusing, but it was nice that she cared enough to at least let him know. 

He saw Piper’s eyes flicker into his cabin. Behind him, he could hear the noise of the shower still going, and realized what she might think.

“Jason’s here,” He told her. “He stopped himself from saying what almost blurted out of his mouth, which vaguely went ‘We’ve been sleeping together for the past few nights.’ He didn’t think she would ever let him live that down.

“We decided to unofficially merge our cabins for the time being. It gets really lonely all by yourself.” That was better.

“Oh Percy,” Piper said, real concern in her eyes. “You don’t have to be by yourself if you don’t want to. Lots of people were worried about you, you know.”

“‘Were’ worried?” Percy didn’t want to be ungrateful or anything, but what exactly had put that worry in the past tense? He didn’t exactly think of himself as magically better.

“Well, people started talking about how you and Jason were seen hanging out together yesterday. I think a lot of people took it as a sign that you were feeling a little better. Are you, by the way?” 

“I-” Percy stopped himself. Was he doing well? It was a loaded question. What even did ‘okay’ look like anymore? He knew he could never go back to being the same old Percy that everyone knew. That Percy was dead somewhere in Tartarus, resting with the billions of monsters that must have been trapped there now. So what was okay? 

“I don’t know.” That was all he could say truthfully, and he didn’t feel like lying to Piper. She had become a good friend in the short time that he knew her, and he had a feeling she could tell if he was lying anyways. 

“Here,” She said, picking up the basket off of the floor and handing it to him. It had a good amount of weight to it.

“What’s this?” He asked.

“Just a small apology for the troubles my painfully stupid cabin mates may cause. I stole a bunch of stuff, just some small items from each person to avoid arousing suspicion. I’m going to be honest, I took a lot of stuff without looking, so don’t read too heavily into anything you find in there.”

What was that supposed to mean? He eyed the basket in his hands with a little more uncertainty.

Piper patted his shoulder for support, and took one last glance at the bathroom door. 

“I hope you feel a little better, Percy. Maybe you and Jason can help each other, you know? But, um, I’m heading out before he comes out because that’s going to be super awkward!” She said while trying not to chuckle. She turned to leave, waving bye to him over her shoulder.

“Say hi to Jason for me!” She called out. Percy gave a wave back, and headed back inside. He set the basket down beside his bed.

What on earth was he supposed to do with that information, he thought as he paced his cabin. A bunch of campers were planning on raiding his cabin? It wasn’t like he had any plans to leave anyways, but the feeling of having a target on his back was only a little unnerving. 

After a little but, Jason finally emerged from the shower. He was still drying his hair with a towel when Percy offered out a hand to him. Jason looked confused for a second, but he realized what Percy was offering and took the hand. His hair instantly dried.

“Thanks, Percy,” Jason said with a smile. Why did just a single smile cause Percy’s heart to race like that. Was he really so desperate for someone to like him that even a simple smile meant so much?  
Percy offered a small smile in return, and pulled his hand free of Jason’s grasp. His hands were rough and calloused from years of sword training, which Percy sympathized with.

“Jason,” He said, trying to choose his words carefully. How did he offer up the concept of another meeting without seeming needy? He knew that Jason had gotten a similar feeling of refreshment from the talk they had the first night, but he still wanted to approach the subject with a certain tact.

“Do you want to have another talk?” He blurted out. Damn his stupid mouth, he was really trying to be better about how he approached things recently. 

“Yeah, sure. I was thinking about asking you the same thing actually. Let me just go get something to eat first, and then we can decide what we want to talk about. Did you want to come with me again?”

Percy blushed as he thought about how his current circumstances about leaving his cabin. He had a feeling like the second he did, the Aphrodite cabin was sure to strike.

“Uh, no thanks. Apparently there are people after my underwear or something.” He said, wincing as he realized once again how he had worded things. 

Jason looked like he had been scandalized and he looked around the cabin, as if he could find whoever Percy was talking about behind a bed. 

“What are you talking about?” Jason said, still searching around the cabin.

“Piper dropped by,” Percy replied. Damn. He probably should have mentioned Piper either! He didn’t know how Jason was feeling about the whole thing. The two hadn’t even been broken up for a full month yet. Whatever. What was done was done, might as well finish out the story. Besides, he knew what it felt like to be tiptoed around. He may not have been the smartest, but even he had realized how awkward Chiron had avoided saying the word ‘chase’. Jason deserved better than to be treated like he was made out of glass.

“Some members of the Aphrodite cabin want to raid my cabin. Apparently they’re making some sort of statement over gender roles. I just don’t see what my underwear had to do with it.”

Jason started laughing, a bright and pleasant sound that echoed throughout the cabin. Percy smiled too, glad he could provide some comic relief to his friend. 

“Okay, that sounds incredibly weird, but okay.” Jason said. “I’ll be quick then.”

With that, Jason was off. As soon as he left the room, Percy dropped to the floor and did a few quick push ups. He couldn’t totally neglect any sort of exercise, especially knowing how the Greek world seemed to work. One day you think you’ve saved the world, and the next thing you know, the whole damn world is literally trying to kill you. He could probably go for some training if Jason was up for it.  
When Jason returned, Percy was lying face down on his bed, huffing from the exercise. It was a small sign of concern that a few push ups were enough to leave him a little winded. Jason raised an eyebrow at him, obviously wondering what had happened, but Percy waved it away. He motioned for Jason to sit on the bed he had been sleeping on so they could face each other.

“Alright,” Jason started. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Phobias”

It had been something that had bothered Percy ever since that day in Alaska. When the earth had swallowed him up and he thought he was going to suffocate. That day when he had been trapped in the well with Jason, and Piper. He hadn’t been able to breathe underwater then, and for the first time in his life he had experienced what drowning must be like for a normal person. It still haunted him. 

“Phobias,” Jason repeated. He nodded slowly, accepting the challenge. 

“Okay. Who starts?” 

“I will,” Percy said. It was too late to back down now, and it was his idea in the first place. It would have been unfair to force Jason to go first.

“I think I’m afraid of drowning.” 

Jason pulled back a little, shocked from the revelation. Percy expected the reaction, he wasn’t surprised. Maybe just a little hurt. Jason motioned for him to continue.

“It started in Alaska, when Frank, Hazel, and I were on our quest. There were these… spots in the ground. They blended into the dirt so well, I- I couldn’t even see what happened. Before I knew it, I was sinking. I opened my mouth to scream and all I could taste was dirt. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t scream. I thought for a second that it was my comeuppance. The universe is getting back at me for being able to breath underwater. The only reason I didn’t die was because of Frank and Hazel.”

He looked up to see how Jason was reacting. The blond had a carefully guarded look on his face, probably trying to save his reaction for the end. Percy took his cue to continue.  


“After that, it was like a deluge of events one after the other. First, I practically threw myself off an ice shelf with about a few tons worth of ice. Frank and Hazel didn’t see what happened next, but I spent the next few minutes just… not crying. Dry heaving. I couldn’t breath, but I could. I couldn’t catch my breath underwater, and yet I was breathing just fine. It was so dark down there. Then, you know what happened next. The well, with you and Piper. That one made me more angry with myself than anything. Not only was I going to drown, but I couldn’t even save the two of you. Water is supposed to be my thing, and yet I was completely helpless. There were more events after that, but those are the ones that keep popping up in my nightmares. I can’t get them to stop, no matter how hard I try.”

Jason was silent. Percy waited for his commentary, his reactions, but instead of doing any of that, Jason just launched into his own story.

“I’m scared of thunder. I have been ever since I was a little kid. It probably started when I was still training with Lupa. There’s something insanely cruel about that whole system, leaving a child to fend for themselves. There were storms, often. Sometimes I think that maybe they were there on purpose, if that’s possible for someone like her to do. It made me terrified of each and every lightning strike because I knew that there was going to be that massive crash soon after. When I got to camp, I thought it would be different. I thought someone would comfort me. No one did. I was made fun of constantly everytime I flinched during the times when we practiced during storms. People called me weak, I called myself sane. We were training in full metal armor during a thunderstorm for crying out loud! It’s those moments that make me feel so… so fucking happy that I decided to stay here. This place certainly has its quirks, like that pretty lethal magma wall, but no one is forcing children to climb it. I’m still terrified of any storm I see coming because I was never treated right. I had to force people to respect me.”

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“I’m scared of drowning, you’re scared of thunder…” Percy summarized. He chuckled darkly to himself. “I think there’s a curse on us Big Three kids. Me, you, Nico, Thalia…”

“What are Nico and Thalia scared of?” Jason asked.

“You haven't noticed with Nico? Ever since he had his shadow traveling exertion, he always flinches away from shadows. We talked once, before he left with Will. He told me he’s scared that one day he’ll sink into a shadow, and never be able to come out.”

“And Thalia?”

Percy felt his face go pale. Shoot, he hadn’t meant to give away Thalia’s secret phobia.

“Come on Percy, you gotta tell me. I’m her brother! Give me something to work with the next time I see her.” Jason toyed. 

Percy debated in his head. It was Thalia’s brother he was talking to after all. If he was going to tell anyone, he might as well tell her actual family.

“You have to swear that you won’t tell her I told you about this. She might actually kill me if you do.”

“I promise.”

“She’s scared of heights.”

“No!” 

“Yes! She can barely get close to the ledge of any kind of place over maybe nine feet? It’s hard to notice at first, but once you do, it’s honestly kind of impressive how she manages to maneuver her way around being near any high ledges.”

Jason had his head in his hands.

“How am I supposed to use this information without getting you caught…” He mumbled to himself. Percy rolled his eyes. This must be what it’s like to have a sibling. He hoped that one day, he and Estelle could have that sort of relationship. It might be hard with their age difference though.

After that, their conversation shifted towards more asinine things. First battles, best use of their powers, etc. It was all harmless conversation, and yet Percy felt bad for some reason. Something about his conversation with Jason had set a chill down his spine. Was it something Jason had said, or something he himself had said? 

Liar. A dark thought bubbled into his head, and Percy stamped it down before he could dwell on it. He didn't want to think about it.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about how to use more powers more effectively.” Jason said. “Over at Camp Jupiter, power use was kind of frowned upon so I don’t really know how to use the whole electricity thing in moderation. I think at one point I knew how, but my memory is still kind of hazy about the last years at Camp Jupiter. Are you sure you don’t have any lost memories like that?  
“I’ve told you over and over that my memories all came back. I’m pretty sure Hera just screwed you over on purpose.”

“Maybe, but doesn’t she hate you too?”

“Mostly Annabeth, I think.”

“Ah. So, did you want to join me? Training with our powers? I’m not sure if you need to since you already seem pretty proficient, but a little practice never hurts right?”

Percy thought about it. It seemed like a good idea, and to be frank, he himself struggled with the more fine tuned usages of his power. Usually, his power came in a violent burst of energy. Waves big enough to rock cruise ships. He didn’t have a lot of practice with the more subtle usages.

“Not tonight,” He said. He looked out the window. It was only the afternoon, so any Aphrodite campers would be aware if he were to leave his cabin. “I’m not really trying to get raided right now.”

“Oh, shoot. I forgot about that. What did you want to do instead if we can’t leave?"

Percy noticed how Jason included himself in that sentence. ‘They’ couldn’t leave. He smiled, glad to know that he had someone to watch his back like that. These days, it seemed like more and more of the people he could count on were going on their own pathways, not that he could blame them, of course. He was happy that everyone seemed to know what they wanted to do with their lives, or were at least in the process of discovering it, he just didn’t know where that left him.

“Piper dropped off a care package. She said it's a bunch of stuff she took from the people who were planning on stealing my stuff. I don’t know what's in it.”

“Let’s open it then.” Jason said, getting to his feet and grabbing the package.  
He set the basket in the middle of Percy’s bed, and settled himself behind it. Percy was sitting close to where his pillows were, while Jason was towards the bottom of the bed. Jason untied the blanket from where it was cinched at the bottom and was about to lift it off when Percy stopped him.

“Wait!” Percy said. “Let’s make a little game out of this. Piper said she doesn’t even know what’s inside, so maybe we could like, take turns pulling things out and see what we get?”

Jason nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. He motioned for Percy to have the first pick. Percy took his cue, and felt under the blanket. There were a surprising amount of things in the basket, it had both large and small objects that he could feel. In the middle was the largest box with several boxes and items surrounding it. He decided to pick the biggest item last.

He grabbed a slim package and pulled it out. A face mask, a set of three actually. It listed a bunch of gibberish about what benefits and nutrients it had packed into it, but Percy focused more on the scent name. Lustful Allure, which apparently smelled like roses and ginger. He held it up for Jason to see, and they both shared a small laugh over the name.

This time, Jason reached into the blanket. He felt around for a moment and withdrew his head, holding a sample box of chocolates. He angled it to where Percy could see, and Percy realized that the box was actually pretty expensive looking. The pictures on the outside were of finely decorated truffles of a multitude of colors. A nice find, Percy thought.

“Are you saving the biggest thing in the box for last too?” Jason asked. Percy nodded.

His turn again. He pulled out a small cylindrical tube, and realized that it was a tube of lipstick. What was he supposed to do with this? He held it up for Jason to see, and got a similar reaction from him. He placed it separate from the others in a sort of ‘bad’ pile of things that they wouldn’t have much use for.

Jason produced an eye shadow palette with a small groan. He placed it into the pile. Percy got a small pack of chips. Jason got another set of face masks, this time a generic name.

Things were going smoothly. Percy reached in for his turn, noting that there weren’t too many things left. He felt something big, a box slightly bigger than his hand. He pulled it out and stared at the box. Jason peeked over the basket to see what he had found and started laughing. Percy held a taser in his hands, and his expression must have been priceless, because when he faced Jason, the other boy only started to laugh harder. He set it into the ‘bad’ pile.

Shaking off the rest of his laughter, Jason took his turn. When he pulled out his hand, his face went a deep blush red. This time, Percy was the one to peek over the basket. Jason held a small kit of… adult items. He couldn’t see exactly all that came in the kit, but he could already see condoms and a small bottle of what he was guessing to be lube. What was something like that doing in one of the camper’s stuff? 

“Piper may need to have a chat with some of her cabin mates,” Jason said as he threw the box into the ‘bad’ pile. He couldn’t even look at the thing. 

Percy stared at the basket in front of him, for the first time feeling a sense of trepidation. What else had Piper thrown into the basket without looking?

He toughened it out and stuck his hand back inside. He grabbed a small vial of something and pulled it out to see what it was. Gods damn it. It was a bottle of flavored lube and according to the bottle, it was supposed to prevent gagging by numbing the throat as someone… No.

Jason sighed and grabbed an item of his own. Candy! Finally something to break their streak of adult items. Only no, it wasn’t. Upon closer inspection, Percy could see that the candies were actually dick shaped hard candies in the vein of sweet tarts, or those chalky hearts people handed out on Valentine’s Day. 

Percy reasoned that there couldn’t possibly be anything worse than what they had already found, and grabbed the first thing he could feel in the basket. A lacy bra and underwear set. Percy threw it down in frustration. This was useless! And inappropriate!

Jason shook the basket, checking to see how much stuff was still inside. There was only a single rattling noise, so he took the opportunity to take the blanket off completely to see what the last item was. It was the big item they had been avoiding.

The boys both stared at the final box. It was a portable DVD player with two discs taped to the lid. The first one was Clue, the movie. The other one was the porn version of Clue, the movie. A small note was attached to it as well.

‘Hey Percy, Piper here. I’m really sorry about this whole thing with the raid, but I hope this helps. This was the only item that I actually had to buy off one of the Aphrodite boys because I felt bad about stealing something so expensive, but I thought a DVD player would be nice. Thank me later! P.S. He said he was going to attach some movies with it as well! What a nice guy. I saw one and it’s Clue! Great movie. Hope you like the other movies he picks as well, I think he said something about a comedy! 

“Well, we have at least one movie to watch.” Jason said. He removed the two movies from the box, placing the porn in the ‘bad’ pile. All together, their haul wasn’t bad, but there was a disappointing amount of items that they had no use for. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, Percy reasoned.

“It’s only about 3 PM, did you want to watch the movie?”

“Sure.”

Percy set about opening the box and figuring out how to set the whole thing up. Thankfully, batteries had been included in the player. It also had a strap system, and Percy was able to arrange it so it hung from the top bunk’s wooden slats above them. He angled it so it would be comfortable to see from lying down on his pillows, and put the movie in. He looked around him. He climbed under the covers and patted a spot next to him for Jason. The other boy climbed up the bed, sliding himself besides Percy.

He would never admit it out loud, but Percy found the presence next to him comforting. He had been avoiding people for so long that he had forgotten how nice it was to have someone next to you. Not all the time, or course, but definitely at times like this. This felt like one of the sleepovers he had never had growing up, on account of being generally unpopular and never wanting anyone to see Gabe.  
Jason popped open the box of chocolates, and set it between them. He grabbed an orange one, while Percy settled for a deep purple. It burst in his mouth with a raspberry filling and… something else 

Percy couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was nice though. 

The movie started and the two boys were rapt in attention. They were expecting a gripping suspense movie, only having a vague idea of the board game it was based on. Eventually, that tension dissolved into fits of giggles as joke after joke continued to crack them up. Between bites of chocolate from the surprisingly big container and the movie, Percy was enjoying himself immensely. A warmth settled in his stomach. Why was just watching a movie like this so damn enjoyable? Actually no, that wasn’t the question he should be asking, he thought to himself. Why was the world getting kind of… spinny?  
“Hey Jace, are you feeling a little funny?”

Jason popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

“I think the room is moving a little bit, but I wasn’t going to bring it up if you weren’t.” 

He barely managed to stifle some of his giggles, and Percy had a feeling it wasn’t due to the movie anymore. His thoughts raced as he tried to think of what could be wrong, and his gaze landed on Jason’s mouth. It was kind of cute, the little sca- no, no, no. What was that? No! Percy slapped his face a few times to regain his focus. Jason’s mouth. No, not that. Jason’s… Jason was chewing. Crap.

Percy felt around the bed for the lid that Jason had discarded about an hour ago. He finally found it one of the blanket folds and brought it closer to read. Poppy’s Chocolate, the label read. Except that wasn’t all. In tiny print underneath the brand name was a warning. An alcoholic warning. He face palmed himself. These were alcoholic chocolates. He and Jason were drunk on alcoholic candy. 

“Jason, these chocolates have alcohol in them. That’s why we feel like this. I think we should sto-” He cut himself off as the room shifted again. He grabbed the top of the bunk to regain his balance.

“Why?” Jason said, still giggling to himself.

“Why should we stop? We’ve both saved the world like… I don’t even know how many times, but we can’t- we can’t have little fun?” Jason was already starting to slur.

Percy had to admit, he had a little bit of a point. Aside from the dizziness, he did feel kind of nice. It was like a sense of floating. He wasn’t sure what to do. Jason grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him back down to the bed. Percy flipped back over onto his back, about to sit up again when Jason wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. Too warm, he thought.

Normally he would have hated this. The closeness should have been messing with his claustrophobia. It didn’t. This felt… so nice. The feeling of someone pressed up against him, the warmth that they shared. Screw it. He grabbed one of the last pieces of chocolate and ate it. 

The movie ended. It had turned out to be one better movies Percy had seen, although to be fair, the list was dismally small to begin with. Growing up, he didn’t have a lot of opportunities to go to the movies. He was mostly limited to the films that his teachers sometimes played in class whenever they were too lazy to teach. The screen went black, but he didn’t want to move. They sat like that for a while, just staring at the empty screen.

“What should we do now?” Jason whispered, like they were hiding from something.

Percy eyes the rest of the pile that they had. He opened the bag of chips and settled back next to Jason. They spent the next few minutes just like that, huddled next to each other eating chips. That finished too. What was left? 

Jason sat up this time and grabbed the face mask that they had made fun of earlier. He raised it up to Percy, and Percy nodded. He had never done anything like a face mask before, or anything relating to self care. He flipped the package over and pulled the mask out. He laid it across his face. The scent of ginger and roses filled the air. He laid back down on the pillow, trying not to laugh even though nothing funny was happening. Jason laid back beside him, also shaking from what Percy assumed was constrained laughter. The dam broke, as they burst out into another round of giggles. Percy got back up and moved towards the end of the bed. The ‘bad’ pile was still in the middle of the bed, and he pulled up the tube of lipstick. 

“I dare you to put this on,” He said, wiggling it in front of Jason.

Jason grabbed the tube from him and popped off the lid.

“You’re on, Jackson.” 

He rolled the tube up and Percy would see the lipstick was a deep red. The face masks were still on their faces, and had a hole for their mouth area. Jason turned away to apply the lipstick to his mouth and then turned back towards Percy in a grand reveal. He had smeared the makeup all around his mouth, and he looked like a little girl who got into her mom’s purse.

Percy howled in laughter, snatching the tube away from Jason. 

“That’s not how you apply lipstick, moron.” He said, as he turned away from the boy.

He had seen the way Annabeth and Piper applied lipstick, although their lipstick were more nude. Any mistakes they made were easily hide able, and they had the benefit of looking in a mirror. Also, they weren’t a little drunk. He tried to apply the lipstick as best as he could and then turned to face Jason, satisfied with his work.

He expected more laughter, but was met with silence. Jason stared at him, the blood returning to his cheeks.

“It looks good on you.” Jason said quietly. 

He moved closer to Percy. No, he was only moving to reach into the pile, Percy corrected. Jason grabbed the taser. Okay, not where Percy thought this night was headed.

“Want to see something cool?” Jason asked, already ripping into the box.

“Please don’t tase me Jace, I’m water type.” Percy slurred, losing his grip for a second. The drunkenness really liked to sneak up on him in waves. He laughed to himself. Waves.

“Water type? This- This isn’t fuc- Look!” Jason said, slurring even more than he was.

He had the taser in his hands, and it was pointed straight at his chest. He pressed the button and the end crackled with electricity. Before Percy could protest, Jason drove the end into his chest. There was a frying sound as electricity met clothes, but Jason didn’t even flinch. In fact, he seemed to glow. Literally glow. The cabin had gotten dark from the setting sun outside. It was only four, but winter was making the days go by fast.

The air smelled like ozone.

“Look at this,” Jason whispered again. Then he pulsed. The glow dissipated around him, and Percy felt a tinge of static wash over him.

“Whoa.”

Jason smiled, glad that Percy was impressed with his skill. He glanced at the small hole the taser had left in his shirt.

“Oh no,” He said. He looked up at Percy. He held Percy’s gaze the entire time as he hoisted his shirt off, and threw it onto his own bed. His hair was ruffled from the movement. 

Percy looked away and felt hot. That shouldn’t make him react, he thought. He had seen countless people around camp, and not once did a guy ever make him look away. He wasn’t attracted to men. Certainly not Jason. So why? 

Jason groped around the pile for another thing and lifted up the set of lacy panties and bra.

“Do you dare me to put this on?” He whispered. 

Percy froze. What should he do? Should he say yes or n- What was he even thinking! The choice should have been obvious to begin with, the answer was obviously n-

“Yes.”

The word hung in the air. They stared at each other from across the bed. How many chocolates had Percy eaten? How many chocolates had Jason eaten? How did they get to his point. He counted the amount he had eaten. six. The box had fourteen. Jason had eight. Eight. Just like the number of abs h- Stop!

“Close your eyes.”

Percy did.

He heard the ruffling of Jason shucking off the rest of his clothes. He pressed his eyes closed even harder. He sat like that for what seemed like hours, but it couldn't have been longer than a few seconds.

“Open.”

Percy did.

Jason was standing now, and Percy got his first real look at the blonde’s body. He was slightly more muscular than Percy was, his body toned from years of fighting. Percy dragged his eyes down, taking in Jason’s muscular stomach, his firm calves. The bra was stretched across Jason’s chest and didn’t cover his left nipple. The underwear… It was pulled tight across the… Percy looked away. This wasn’t something he should be doing. The lace was pulled tight and if he focused hard enough he could make out rough outlines. Stop, he told himself. Why wasn’t he stopping? 

His hands reached out on their own accord. No, he moved his hands. He wanted to touch. It was time to stop lying. His fingers ghosted across Jason’s abs, and he plunge-

A string snapped. 

Percy woke with a start. He nearly hit his head on the DVD player that hung above him. As he rose, he jostled something to his right. Jason laid next to him, dead asleep. Percy took a moment to examine the other boy, thanking each and every god he knew that Jason was fully clothed. It was just a dream, he thought to himself. A very weird alcohol infused dream. He checked the time on his phone. It was 2 AM. He sighed. They must have fallen asleep after watching the movie.

Maybe he should have moved to another bed, and maybe he should have done literally anything else than what he was doing, but he laid back down next to Jason. Jason whimpered in his sleep. Was it a nightmare? Percy didn’t have long to think before Jason reached over and scooped him closer. Percy froze. He relaxed. He let his head rest on Jason’s shoulder. Maybe the dream that he had just had was weird, but it wasn’t even comparable to the nightmares he had been having. Nothing could compare to being back down in Tartarus, watching as Annabeth was consumed by poison, impaled by Arachne, burned in the river of fire they had drunk from. He would pick having that dream about Jason any day of the week.

He breathed out a sigh, and focused on going back to bed. For the first time in weeks, he was hopeful that he could continue through the night without any nightmares. He hadn’t mentioned it to Jason before, but the lack of sleep was getting to him. Just the amount of sleep he had gotten from the time the movie ended to now was already more sleep he had than the past week, at the very least. Jason was comfortable, and he laid there, breathing in the remaining scent of rose and ginger that stuck to the blonde’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I just want to let it be known that this is about as explicit as it'll get for this story. Except for one scene in chapter 7, don't expect anything raunchy. Notice how I'm wording my words very carefully, because I do have some other plans in store for this story at a later date. Those ideas might be less... PG-13, let's say.


	6. The Goddess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A goddess loses her favorite ship.

THE NIGHT OF THE BREAKUP

SEPTEMBER 2010

Far above New York, a goddess was drastically bored. Zeus had imposed their absolutely dreadful quarantine for months and had still not set an end date. It was supposed to last until the Greek and Roman forms of the main Twelve were stable, but if that was the metric, Aphrodite figured she would never leave Olympus again.

She herself was already among the most stable of the gods. Love was universal after all. Besides, Aphrodite and Venus had long since worked out a lady's agreement between the two of them. They were better than the petty squabbles of Zeus and Jupiter, because they shared a remarkable similar goal. Creating and facilitating love in all of its forms. They had also agreed to split the workload, which allowed them both room to breathe. Aphrodite got the more pure love, while Venus was more of a freak. She wanted all of the fetish stuff, which Aphrodite has easily given her. That wasn’t her forte.

This was, she thought as she looked at her collection of strings. Heartstrings from some of her favorite mortal romances currently going on. Robert and Kristen, Beyonce and that other guy, Piper and Jason, among some others. But her current favorite was right in the middle. A grey string coiled around a sea green string. Percy and Annabeth. They were the literal definition of the perfect couple. She kept their strings in the middle as an example to herself as how to improve the art of romance. 

She still remembered that time when she had met Percy in the desert in that limo. She had foreseen in his future that his love life would be a tumultuous one, but she could see that at the end, a blinding light awaited him. Pure love in its truest form was bound to spring from the boy. Just the thought of it made her feel dizzy from joy.

She spent her days whiling away the long hours as best as she could, but one could only paint one’s nails or re calibrate an entire country’s worth of romances so many times before there just wasn’t any joy in it any more. She was glad her power worked from afar, yes, but it was nowhere near as powerful as it would have been if she was able to actually travel the world like she was used to. 

Her power didn’t exactly work like everyone thought it did. She didn’t make people fall in love. That was impossible. All she could do was manage their love. She could adjust the settings, so to speak, on a romance. Tweak a little obsession here, dial up the butterfly effect when someone looked at their crush there. It was an art form that she had mastered over millennia. She had gotten so good at it, in fact, that she was able to convince the others that her power was far greater than it actually was. 

That was what she thought, at least. Her power was unbeatable, she thought. She thought wrong. In an event that will be forever known as ‘the Great tragedy of 2010,’something unspeakable occurred. A cord snapped.

She had been looking over the love between a cute french boy and his asian girlfriend when it happened. She was so focused on getting the couple to fall deeper for each other that she nearly missed it. It sounded like a string had been plucked. She stopped dead in her work. She all but through her pieces of progress onto the table in front of her, probably screwing up the romance she had been so delicately crafting from pieces of heartstrings. She didn’t care. One of her favorites was doing something. Was it Beyonce? Did she finally realize that she was going to be cheated on? 

She got to her little pedestal and gasped in horror. She felt ill. It had been far worse than she thought. The grey string and the sea green string were fraying. No, she thought to herself. Don’t panic, you can fix this. She entered the ‘setting’ of the romance. All she had to do was make them remember how they felt about each other. She could play a sequence of their greatest moments together through their heads? The scene at the volcano, meeting back at Camp Jupiter after their search for each other? Yes, tat would do the trick.

She was holding the two pieces when out of nowhere, they snapped with a firm plucking sound. She stopped and stared at the pieces of cord in her hands for a long time. What just happened? The pieces had lost their color, so they were both just balck pieces of cord in her hand. Stunned, she moved over to her boudoir, where she kept her collection of every interaction on earth right at that moment. The room was packed to the gills with every kind of love imaginable. Familial love, friendly love, passionate love, angry love, she had it all. She motioned her hands and most of the strings pulled away towards the side of the room. Grey strings and sea green strings were the only ones left when she was done. She examined their connections. She could see that Percy had no pink strings connecting him anywhere. No romantic love. The same was for Annabeth. What was going on here? How could they not love each other anymore? It didn’t make sense. Then she saw it.

A yellow line was stretching between Annabeth and Percy. Yellow, she blanched. Friendly love. She did the only thing she could think to do. She screamed. She screamed so loud the mortals must have heard it on earth, but she didn’t care. She had just been through a trauma. There was a pounding at her door. A voice called out to her.

“Aphrodite, is something wrong?” It was a woman’s voice, smooth and firm. Athena. Through her tears, Aphrodite managed to open the door, and leapt into Athena’s arms.

“Oh, Theny, it’s horrible!”

Athena was so confused, she didn’t even get on her case about the nickname like she usually did.

“What in our name happened here?” she questioned, looking into the temple to see if anyone was there.

“They- They BROKE UP!” Aphrodite sobbed. She couldn’t help herself. 

“Who, dear?”

“Percy and Annabeth!”

The arms holding her up let go. She dropped to the ground with a thud. She looked up at Athena to see the goddess was holding back tears as well.

“This is the greatest day of my existence.” Athena whispered.

“Oh my, oh my, I need to go! I have things to do, people to speak to!” Athena said in an almost sing song voice. As Aphrodite watched from her place on the ground, Athena skipped away with the joy of a school girl on her way home. She put her head back on the marble and continued to lie there for an entire month, gently sobbing. 

From somewhere above Manhattan, a piercing scream filled the night. It lasted only a moment, but it was loud enough to catch the attention of people all across the island. Pedestrians walking the street looked at each other with confused looks upon their faces before shrugging and continuing on their way. Just another night in the big city, they thought, as the scream slowly worked its way out of their minds by an unseen force. Most of their minds, that is. From the top of an apartment building, a lone man stood by the edge of the roof, gazing restlessly at the sky.

\----

THE NIGHT JASON AND PERCY FIRST TALKED

JULY 2012

Aphrodite had taken to checking both Percy and Annabeths strings daily to see if anything had changed. Twice, she had to interrupt growing pink string from Annabeth towards some loser she had met at college. Percy hadn’t gotten into any trouble yet, which was why that night in particular was so shocking to her. 

That night she was watching mortal tv. It was a silly little dating show, filmed months in advance. She already knew who the winner would be, and she could she that it would last for all of two months after the final episode aired. Still, there was a sort of curiosity in watching the mortals dance around a single man like he was a god himself. He wasn’t that impressive, and she had gotten the sense that most of the women had joined for social media acclaim. A smart move, she thought as she sipped her drink of nectar. Behind her, a little alarm chimed.

She was up in an instant. She had been caught slacking the last time, now she had alarms set to Percy and Annabeth whenever a connection was formed or altered in anyway. She checked Annabeth first. Lots of yellow, lots of green, the color of family. Apparently, she kept in close contact with most of her cabin mates. Nothing new here. She moved over to Percy.

It was a lot of the same, which was why she almost missed it. She was going over his connection to Annabeth one more time when something caught her eye on a entirely different string set. Jason Grace. She had been aware that he had broken up with her daughter as well, but that was to be expected. They could only do so much with such a burden on their relationship after all. That knowledge didn’t do anything to prepare her for what she saw in the string connection Jason and Percy though.

It was yellow, connecting the gold and sea green threads. Normal, at first glance. Except for one tiny little thing. One tiny little dash of pink smack dab in the middle of the string. The beginning of a crush? She had never even considered this an option. And yet… it made sense in a sort of roundabout way. What better way to top the forbidden romance between the son of Poseidon and the Daughter of Athena? The romance between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon! 

The mere thought of the drama and angst filled her with so much joy that she screamed once more. She knew that mortals must have heard it, but she didn’t care. Again, a knocking at her door.

“Aphrodite, this is Athena. They didn’t get back together, did they? Please tell me they didn’t get back together!” 

She laughed long and hard.

“No!” She called back, slowly sinking against the way, giddy from her new plans.

“Oh! Good! And you are alright? Good, good. I will be on my way then.” Athena’s voice retreated. 

She could scream again, she was so happy, but she knew not to press her luck. It was one thing for the mist to cover up one scream, she didn’t want to risk a second. It didn’t matter anyways, it wasn’t like anyone was going to notice.

\----

THAT NIGHT

She looked at the string in her hands. The pink had spread surprisingly fast. Concerning fast. This wasn't right. It wasn't a natural growth. Something, or someone was meddling, and she was supposed to be the only one who meddled in mortal love. She decided to keep a closer eye on the thread from here on out. Something was bothering her about the whole thing, but she wasn't quite sure what could be going on. She couldn't even enjoy the show they had put on. The question plagued her. How exactly did someone benefit by making two lonely souls connect? 

She grabbed the string and focused her energy and pulled herself into the scene of what was currently going on. She let out a silent shriek over the image that formed in her mind. Jason was standing in front of Percy in an extremely tight lace undergarments set. It was hot, she had to admit, but it was exactly the kind of thing that she didn't want to happen at this point. If someone was trying to force these two boys together, then she couldn't stand around and let it happen. 

Percy moved towards Jason and she knew she had to act fast. There were only a few options available to her, and none of them were good. She gripped the ends of the string and yanked, only a moment before Percy did the unthinkable to Jason's unthinkables. The image cut out. She couldn't be sure that it worked, but she had to hope.

She had just cut the two boys out of the network. It was an act that she never thought she would have to do again. It was an act reserved for the most desperate of situations. It meant she, and whoever was trying to pull the two boys together, would be temporarily delayed. The string would regrow in time, but before it could, she needed to make a move. 

She frowned, and put the loose string away. She might have to bring in some more people for this. Her options were limited. It had to be someone who cared about the two boys, while also not being so loyal to Zeus that they would feel obligated into telling him. If he found out what was going on between his son and the son of Poseidon... the chaos would be immense. That left her with only one option, she figured, rising from her chair.

She exited her temple and headed west. Towards the sea temple. She had things to discuss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is our next connection to chapter 2. It turns out Aphrodite might need to keep it down next time. 
> 
> I really like Aphrodite because I feel like she puts on a ditzy act, but she's actually one of the eldest and most powerful gods. I think she gets a bad rap in the story, but I think she's really cool.


	7. The Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Jason have a relaxing day at the beach.

When Jason woke, he could already feel his brain pounding in his skull like a dull metronome. What had happened last night? He moved to rub his temples but something, no- someone was stopping his left arm from moving. Percy was lying on him, his head curled on Jason’s shoulder. 

Jason’s breath hitched in his throat. When did that happen? All he could remember was the movie ending and then feeling… fuzzy. Something about the chocolates. Something really embarrassing about some lace undergarments. But he wasn’t sure if that had actually happened. The rest was a blur.

Carefully, he extracted himself from out underneath Percy and made his way to the restroom. He tried splashing his face with water. No luck. He still felt like crap. Maybe a shower would help, he thought. 

He lifted his shirt and stopped as he saw a flash of bright red. Something was crossed over his upper chest. He pulled the rest of his shirt off. He stood in front of the mirror, just staring at the sight of himself in the lacy bra that they had found Piper’s care package.

What?

He pulled it off in a hurry, acting like it was burning against his skin.

What?

He couldn’t remember anything specifc involving the bra. Maybe… no, he didn’t have any clue.

He shucked off his pants to just get into the shower and get the whole ordeal over with when he saw the next thing that nearly gave him a nervous breakdown. Another flash of red, this time over his crotch. The fucking lace panties. 

Nononononononononononononno

This was a dream. No, this was a nightmare.

He wasn’t sure what to do. What did he do? What had happened last night that ended with him in the fucking lace bra and panties? Gods, if Percy remembered… This was it, he had to leave camp, he reason. No way he could show his face here again after that, and absolutely not to Percy.

He took another look at the clothes he had been wearing when he had woken up. They weren’t his, he realized. The horror was just coming in massive waves. They must have belonged to Percy. What had happened after he had put the undergarments on? The only thing he remembered was Percy moving closer to him. He remembered his breath stopping as Percy reached a single hand out and then… 

Nothing. 

Oh gods, if Percy remembered… 

No, Percy had eaten those damn candies too. Jason had eaten so much, and he had never drunk before, but this still seemed a little excessive. If this was how he acted when he was drunk, then he was never drinking again.

He finished his shower in a haze, his mind flickering with various ideas about what might have happened. He stood underneath the cold water, desperately wishing it would stop the pounding in his head. He turned the water off. 

With a towel wrapped around his waist, he snuck his way back into the main room to get a new set of underclothes. Percy was still asleep, sprawled across his bed like he had been looking for something in his sleep. He got his things and was tiptoeing back to the bathroom when Percy called out.

“Jason?”

He was sitting up in bed wiping the sleep from his eyes. Jason gave him a wave, and scooted past the empty bunk to the left of Percy’s bed on his way back to the bath-

His towel snagged. It caught on the side of the bed and pulled clean off of him. He froze. Percy froze. Jason was turned in a way that hid his intimates, but he knew without looking behind him that he had just mooned the crap out of Percy. He yanked the towel out of the groove it had caught on and ran back into the bathroom. 

He changed quickly but stayed in the room for longer than he needed to. How was he supposed to face Percy? Not only had Percy just seen him exposed like that, but he could have also seen him do something really stupid the night before. He let out a soft groan, and let his head rest on the mirror. He worked up whatever courage he had left, and mustered the strength to leave the restroom.

Percy was still there on the bed, staring a hole into the spot where Jason had been. He saw Jason and turned his head away from the spot, obviously not wanting Jason to know that he was thinking about what had just happened.

“Hey Jason.”

“Hey Percy.”

Gods, things were awkward now. They both shuffled around each other as Percy made his own way into the bathroom. Jason made sure to hide the red panties deep within his dirty pajama bottoms so there would be no evidence that they had been on him. As soon as the door was closed behind Percy, he made his move. He dropped them back into the ‘bad’ pile they had formed, pushing away all the thoughts about how gross that was. He couldn’t let Percy know that they had been moved.

Percy finished his shower and exited the bathroom. He sat across from Jason and stared at the floor. Jason’s heart pounded. What was he supposed to say? He was racking his brain for an answer when there was a knock on the door.

“I’ve got it!,” they both said at the same time. They both stood up to answer the door, but bumped into each other on the way up. Jason recoiled away, but Percy caught him.

“I’m sorry,” Percy said, releasing him. His face was beet red. 

“I thought you were falling.”

I am, Jason thought.

No.

What was that? He wasn’t falling, why had he thought… Enough.

“It’s alright,” 

Percy nodded, and went to open the door. From where he was sitting on the bed, Jason could already see who it was. Piper stood in the doorway, looking as confident as ever. He pulled his face back so she couldn't see him. There wasn’t really any bad blood between them, he just wasn’t sure how to approach her right now.

“I see you back there Jason,” Her voice called out.

Crap. 

“Hey Piper!” He said, standing up and walking closer to the door. He tried to look nonchalant, but he probably looked like he needed to go to the restroom. 

Piper was wearing her normal camp outfit, but with an added addition of a large backpack slung over a shoulder. She did a small wave towards Jason, and he returned the gesture.

“What brings you back here?” Percy asked.

“I just wanted to stop by and let you guys know that I’m going to be leaving for the week. I’m staying over in London at Annabeth’s apartment so we can catch up again.”

She said it all so casually, as if Annabeth’s ex wasn’t right in front of her. Percy didn’t seem to mind though, as he only nodded at the news. 

“Yeah, she had mentioned that you guys were thinking about meeting up, I just thought she would come to you in California, she had said she was feeling a little homesick.”

“Oh, you guys keep in contact?” Piper asked.

Jason marveled at her. It may have seemed like an insignificant skill, but Piper managed to talk to people so delicately. By not even bringing up any of the bad stuff or shying away from Percy, she was proving that she still saw Percy as someone who could handle himself. It was a lesson that Chiron needed a little work on, Jason thought as he recalled the centaur’s earlier trip up.

“Yeah, we send Iris messages and letters whenever we can. Oh, that reminds me!” Percy walked over to one of his drawers and pulled out an envelope. He took out the small piece of paper from inside and wrote down a quick note with Riptide. He sealed it and handed the envelope to Piper.

“I think she said she has a phone now. I wrote down my number for her. She’s surrounded by people all day so we can’t always do Iris messages and letters are so infrequent, it would be nice if we could just text each other.”

Piper took the note and nodded. She stuffed the note into her backpack, and zipped the bag shut.

“I have to go, Argus is going to take me to the airport. A little bit foreboding for my trip since he usually handles the start of quests, but I think the only quest I’m going to be doing is trying to get Annabeth to take a break.”

The trio shared a small chuckle, thinking of how hard Annabeth was prone to working herself. Piper said her final goodbyes and then headed off towards the edge of camp. Percy and Jason went back inside, and the awkwardness returned.

“Training?” Percy suggested.

“You had said you wanted to test your powers yesterday. How about we set up by the lake and try some things out?”

Jason thought it was a good idea. Maybe getting out for a bit would let things settle down. He nodded. 

“I’m going to go change into swim trunks then. It’s too hot out to be by the lake and not go for a swim.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess I’ll go change too.”

Jason took his turn first in the restroom. There was something that was nagging at him, like there was something that was going to happen if they left the cabin… He couldn’t recall. As he left the restroom, he saw Percy toying with the taser they had found yesterday. 

“What’s that for?” Jason asked.

“I was thinking we could test it out on you.” Percy said, turning the device over in his hands.

“That’s a good idea. We should probably keep it away from the water though.”

They headed out to the lake. There weren’t that many people around, and yet Jason kept feeling like someone was watching them. He glanced towards his left. Nothing but the Aphrodite and Ares cabins. He shrugged the feeling away. They headed to the mess hall first to grab a quick breakfast, and grab a small meal to take with them after training.

By the time they had gotten to the lake, Jason was already starting to sweat. The sun was much stronger today than it had been, and he was glad that he had planned ahead and brought swimwear.  
They separated a little bit. The air by the ;ale was already a lot cooler than the rest of the camp, and Jason breathed in the clean air. He held the taser in his right hand. Off to the side, Percy was staring at the water. He put a hand to his stomach, as if he was in pain, and a huge hand rose out of the water. He took a few swings with the hand, before moving on to dexterity. 

Jason marveled at the way Percy controlled the water. The hand was testing each finger joint, and while it was a little rough, it was still extremely impressive. Jason had a lot of work to do.

He pushed the taser to the skin of his arm and pushed the button. Immediately, he felt a charge of energy, as if he had taken three energy drinks in a row. He couldn't see it in the bright sunlight, but he knew that if he was in a dark room, his skin would have a faint glow to it. He held his arm out in front of him, and pushed. The electricity left his body and arced out in front of him. It zapped into the ground with a crackle. Jason could feel the energy boost fading, and he took a breath.

It was a technique he had been considering in his time off while he was helping unite the camps. One of his old buddies from New Rome had dared him to taze himself, and see what happened. The results were shocking.

Not only was Jason capable of holding a charge like a human battery, but it seemed like he was able to magnify the electricity as it left him. A simple taser didn’t have the power to create even the small bolt of lightning he had just shot out, so it must have been something else. 

He repeated the experiment a few more times. He wished he could practice summoning bolts, kind of like the one he had used on Midas, but he couldn't do that so close to the camp. He was breathing heavily. His body could only take so much bursts of energy, he was starting to feel the effects. He looked back over to where Percy was training. 

The hand was gone, and Percy laid by the shore. He was breathing hard too. Jason walked over to make sure he was okay. Percy gave him a small wave of acknowledgement, and continued lying there. Jason checked his phone. It was only mid day.

“Out of energy too?” Jason asked.

Percy nodded.

“Want to take that swim now?” Jason asked. He was a little concerned from what Percy had said yesterday about his phobia of drowning, but Percy had seemed up for it when they had talked.

Percy nodded again, finally attempting to get to his feet. Jason gave him a hand, and helped pull the teen to his feet. He took off his glasses and shucked his shirt off. He took his phone out and set his things in a small pile. It was only then when he realized that they were close to a dock. Not the dock where he had seen Percy crying, but it was similar. 

Percy seemed to read his mind, and he let out a small scoff.

“I’m not that fragile Jason, I don’t hate docks now.” He said.

Jason looked over. Percy had already taken off his shirt and was making his own small pile next to Jason’s things and the sacks of their lunches. Jason’s eyes danced over Percy’s body, taking in the way Percy’s muscles moved as he bent down to set his shirt on the ground. He wasn’t ogling at him, he was only taking note of the fact that Percy’s body was still in great shape. That’s what it was. That’s all it was. 

Jason was about to head towards the water when a hand caught his arm.

“Not so fast, mister.” Percy chided. He pulled a bottle of sunblock out of his trunk’s pocket and waved the bottle at Jason.

“You didn’t think I’d forget sunscreen, did you?” Percy asked, opening the bottle and pouring a dollop into his hands. 

Jason rolled his eyes and got his own portion of sunscreen from the bottle. They took a moment to rub their bodies down with the lotion, getting to every area that they could. Jason made a swipe at his back, but he wasn’t able to get the top half. 

“I’ll get your shoulders if you get mine.” Percy’s voice was too close to his ear. Jason whirled around and faced Percy. 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Jason said, but inside he was already starting to panic. He shouldn’t be panicking. It was only applying sunscreen to a friend.

He put a small amount of lotion into his hands, and motioned for Percy to turn around. He rubbed the cream into his hands a bit, and then began rubbing it on Percy. He could feel the other teen’s muscles as he worked his way across the shoulder blades. It made since, Percy was a natural swimmer, and that was a key area for muscle development for swimming. Percy made a small coughing noise.

“Jason?” He asked.

Jason realized in horror that he had been taking way too long to apply the sunscreen. He finished, and then gave a small pat to Percy’s back in an attempt to seem casual.

“All done!” He said, hating the way his voice went a little too high.

Percy poured lotion into his hands and Jason turned around. He felt Percy’s hands brush across his skin and he held back a small gasp. It was from the coldness of the sun screen. Yes.

Percy worked the sunscreen into his skin like he was giving Jason a massage. Jason bit back a small groan. He hadn’t realized it, but he could feel the tension leaving his shoulders and Percy worked. The hands left his skin, far too soon for Jason’s liking. 

“All done?” Jason asked.

“Yep, let’s head into the water.” Percy said. He turned away from Jason towards the water, but Jason could still see a flush to his face. He must have been getting hot, Jason thought. The sun was punishingly hot now. Jason followed Percy’s cue and stepped into the cool water.

He worked his way slowly into the water. It was too cold to just jump right in. Hmm.. Jason thought. He was only up to his knees, and his pace was slow. He eyes the dock next to them, and wondered how they had missed the obvious. He walked back to land and made his way to the dock. Percy was making lazy laps around the area, but he stopped to look at Jason, who stood a little bit behind the edge of the dock.

“Jump!” Percy yelled, trying to hype Jason up.

Jason let his courage build up. He knew that as soon as he hit the water it was going to be freezing, but that wouldn’t stop him. He counted to three in his head. 

One. Percy was making a ruckus in the water, splashing water as he cheered Jason on. 

Two. Percy, Percy, Percy. Why was every thought about Percy now? Jason knew. Deep down, he had been figuring things out for the past few days. It was time to stop lying to himself. 

Gods damn it, he fucking had a crush on Percy.

Three. He took a running start and threw himself into the water. The water enveloped him, and he sunk down, feeling the cold water wash over him. It was so refreshing. He stayed under for a moment, enjoying the feeling of floating. He surfaced. Percy let out a small whoop, and made his way towards Jason. 

They spent what felt like hours fooling around in the lake. Percy challenged Jason to a race and then proceeded to absolutely stomp him. Percy suggested a competition for who could hold their breath the longest and Jason was several seconds underwater before he remembered that Percy could breathe normally underwater. He resurfaced to find Percy laughing at him. He liked that sound, Percy’s laughter. He hadn’t heard it that often. 

He had a crush on Percy fucking Jackson.

The sun beat down on them. He could see it was tiring even Percy out. He didn’t want to get out though, it felt too good to be in the water. Jason swam closer to the dock, and ducked under it. The dock was high enough above the lake so there was a comfortable amount of space between the wood panels and the water. The ground also began to slope up, so Jason was able to stand up for the first time.  
He was thinking about what he was going to do about his new found crush, when said crush ducked his head under the dock and joined him. Gods, Percy was attractive. He didn’t make up some tired excuse about why he thought that. He wasn’t making some objective observation on how someone might see Percy, he was thinking that Percy was hot. Annoyingly hot.

“It’s so nice under here.” Percy said. He moved a little closer to Jason. No, Jason thought. He was moving so he could stand up like Jason was. 

“Are you feeling alright?,” Percy asked. He must have read something on Jason’s face because he looked concerned.

“Yeah, just a little tired.” Jason said. It was the truth, or at least part of it.

“Not everyone’s a child of Poseidon, you know.”

Percy laughed again. Jason’s heart squeezed at the sound. Percy moved closer again. There was only a few feet in between them now.

“You know, Jace, we didn’t really talk about what happened last night. Do you remember anything? I only remember watching the movie and then finding out that the chocolates had alcohol in them. After that it was all just some weird dream.”

Jason might as well have had a heart attack right there. First, Percy had called him by a nickname. It was fucking adorable. Then, he brought up last night. Jason didn’t want to talk about it.

“Not really,” He lied. He wasn’t sure how much more he remembered than Percy, but if Percy didn’t bring up the lace panties, then he sure as Hades wasn’t going to.

“What was your dream about?” He asked. He wanted to shift the topic away from him.

This time, Percy was the one to look flustered. But there was an amount of something else in there too. Determination.

“Well, we did sheet masks, ate some of those candies, you showed me a trick with the taser, and then…” Percy said.

Jason froze. He knew what Percy was going to say. He didn’t know what to do. Percy was only drifting closer and closer. 

“You… put on the panties and bra that we found in the gift basket.” Percy whispered. He was staring at Jason, that look still in his eyes. It wasn’t determination. It was…

Desire. Percy made his move and leaned into Jason, capturing his lips in a kiss. 

Fuck it, Jason thought. He kissed back. When Jason had kissed Piper, it was slow, and delicate. This wasn’t. It was a clash of teeth against teeth. Percy’s tongue battled with his for domination. Jason let himself go, he trusted Percy to take care of him. It was foolish, they hadn’t even really known each other for very long, but for some reason, Jason trusted Percy. They related to each other on a deep level, Percy was one of the few people Jason felt as if he could share everything with.

Piper and Leo were his best friends, but he didn’t tell them some of the things that he told Percy. There was a need to protect them. They might want to help him, but he knew that they couldn’t relate to some of the things he went through. Percy could. He wanted to tell Percy everything, and wanted Percy to tell him everything.

In between desperate breaths for air, Percy leaned in close to his ear and whispered something that sent a chill through Jason.

“You looked fucking hot last night.”

Percy tasted like the ocean breeze. There was a tinge of salt, but it wasn’t bad. If whatever this was didn’t go well, Jason wondered if he would ever be able to go to a beach again without remembering this kiss. 

Percy’s hands, which had been on his shoulders, slowly made their way down. He took his time exploring Jason’s body through touch. He felt Jason’s pecs, and his toned stomach. Jason thought he was going to explode. The cold water was helping anything embarrassing from happening, but he could feel himself becoming… excited. He was wondering what the Hades they were going to do if the kiss continued when a voice called out, shockingly close.

“Percy! Jason!” the voice said. They broke apart, silently gasping for air. Percy’s eyes were wide. He placed a finger to his lips and Jason nodded in agreement. 

The voice called out for them again, this time right above them. Percy gave Jason a look to wait there and sunk under the water. A few moments later, he popped up from the lake a few hundred feet away from the dock. How could he swim like that? He touched a hand to his lips, which were swollen from the kiss. How did he kiss like that?

“Oh, Percy! Have you seen Jason?” The voice said. Jason finally recognized the voice as Travis Stoll. Or Conner Stoll. Both of them? He couldn’t really tell.

“No,” Percy replied “I think he said he was going to take a run through the forest. Did you guys need him for something?”

Good lie, Jason thought. Percy could be convincing when he wanted to be.

“Yeah, we needed to tell him something. Can you tell him when he gets back?”

“Sure can,” Percy said. “What's up?”

“The Hunters are here!”

Jason’s stomach dropped.

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is it. It's happening. Now let's see them try to get around Thalia without giving themselves away.
> 
> Also, side note, this is it in terms of raunchiness. Don't expect this to get an Explicit rating any time soon. Although, if your interested... let me know. I have some ideas for future stories.


	8. The Trio (Quartet)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trio (quartet) of gods have a secret meeting.

Poseidon observed the large map in front of him. The images on the map moved and swirled like real water. He was keeping tabs on the world’s oceans while he was away, and so far he was satisfied. Nothing disastrous had happened yet, and he knew Triton was loving the feeling of being the acting king. He had told the younger godling to keep things fairly moderate until he was able to leave quarantine, and so far, it looked like his child was following his advice.

He sighed, bored out of his mind. He hated this infernal quarantine. He and Neptune had reached an agreement ages ago, it was only due to Zeus and Jupiter that all of the gods had to be stuck like this. Until the two reconciled with how they wanted to move forward as a pair, all of the major gods were in danger of going haywire again, even with their new found sense of coexistence. 

He had hoped the unity of the camps would help speed things along, but if the constant yelling and thunder from the palace beside his was any indication, it hadn’t. The two were supposed to be the rulers of the gods, and yet they were acting like children. Perhaps that was insulting to children, he thought. 

He and Neptune spent the long days in peace. Out of all of the major gods, he liked to take solace in the fact that their bond was one of the closest. They didn’t have much to bicker on. The sea was boundless, always shifting. There was no point in placing boundaries on who could do what, or who was allowed to go where. Zeus and Jupiter were busy fighting over who had control of the sky above Malibu.

“Neptune,” He said into the empty air.

He shimmered, his form shifting into a more lithe form.

Neptune stood in the place he had been inhabiting. Poseidon was incorporeal, his essence infused around Neptune. He could alter his perception to anywhere in the field he inhibited, enabling him to look at Neptune from an almost third person point of view. 

Neptune was much younger than he was, only a few years older than Percy. A few hundred years ago, Neptune had become infatuated with the idea of being different than Poseidon. It had helped them agree on things in the long run, because there were no disagreements over who got what. They were two separate entities, with their own wants and needs. It was an advancement over their early days, and was part of what made what they were about to do possible.

He had jet black hair, which he had styled into a modern quiff. A loose strand of hair hung in front of his face. He was little similar to what Percy might look like once he was fully grown up, but with slightly shifted features. Where Percy was Greek, Neptune was Roman. A stranger would have assumed cousins, before they assumed the two were brothers. He was dressed in a dark grey suit, like he was going to work at the office.

“You want to try it again?” Neptune asked.

Poseidon hummed in agreement. Neptune wasn’t able to hear him exactly, but general thoughts and ideas could transfer between them fairly easily.

Neptune closed his eyes. Poseidon closed his… awareness? He didn’t have eyes in this form, but he focused only on thoughts of himself. Neptune. The idea of them being together. Then, the idea of them being apart. He held the two different versions of himself in his mind’s eye and pulled them apart as gently as he could. A soft blue light filled the room.

Poseidon opened his eyes. His eyes. He shone of blue light, his godly form peeking through his translucent skin. It would have been enough to kill a mortal, but it was progress. This was the furthest he and Neptune had gotten to total separation. He heaved out a breath, and he could hear Neptune slightly gasping next to him.

The form took complete concentration. Even a slight alter to his thoughts would send him reeling back into the realm of almost nonexistence. He and Neptune looked at each other. They shared a grin. If they were able to practice hard enough, they would be able to take their results to the next council meeting. If they could show their results to someone like Zeus and Jupiter… they might be able to convince him that they were more than capable of leaving Olympus, at least for a little bit.

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Poseidon let out a gasp as he vanished into the thin air with another flash of blue light.

“Bloody hell.” Neptune said, glaring at the entrance way.

What was that? Poseidon sent his thoughts to Neptune.

“Do you like it? I’ve found that if I try real hard, I can personify the fuck out of a body of water.” He said with a flimsy English accent. 

“I’m the English bloody Channel, love!”

Dear gods, no.

“Aw, don’t ruin me fun, bruv, I’m only havin’ a slag and a laugh with me mates! Fish and chips!”

Poseidon pulsed his essence, threatening to take over. Neptune raised his arms in mock surrender.

“Okay, I’ll quit with the slang. I thought I nailed it though.” He said, this time in a much more subdued English accent.

You did not. Do you even know what any of that means?

“Not really.”

Then don’t.

The knock at the door came again.

“Do you want to get that, or shall I?”

You should. It’ll help if we make it normal for us to switch places like this every now and then. Maybe others will catch on, make this damn thing go by faster.

“You’ve got it, mate.”

Neptune flinched, waiting for the next flash to cut him off, but it didn’t. He ran a hand through his wavy jet black hair, and walked over to the door. He knew who was behind the door without even opening it. The smell of flowers and sea salt wafted around him.

“Aphrodite,” He greeted, “Always a pleasure.”

“Neptune,” She greeted curtly. 

“May I speak to Poseidon please? I have something very important to tell him, it’s about Percy.”

Neptune ceded his form. If there was one thing he wasn’t going to get in the way of, it was Poseidon and his son. The god was entirely too attached to the boy, often breaking the rules to go visit him. Neptune would have done the same. In a way, he had grown fond of the boy as well, since he had been dragged along for Poseidon’s schemes.

Poseidon reemerged. He ushered Aphrodite inside, and shut the door. He began to worry. What was going on with Percy. It was Aphrodite, so it must have had something to do with love. Had he and Annabeth gotten back together? He hated the fact that he wasn’t able to see his son since the war had ended. From the glimpses he had been told about the outside world, his son was going through the wringer. 

Aphrodite led herself though his temple. She had visited once or twice, her most recent visit being to tell him that Percy and Annabeth were no longer together. She knew her way around, as she led him into the pool area. It was a large marble pool, on earth it would have been about three ‘olympic’ sized pools put together. There were rows of columns on the walkways around the edges, and the ceiling held a shifting image of past wars and battles he had won. It was one of the innermost rooms in the temple. Whatever Aphrodite wanted to tell him, she wanted to be damn sure that no one else was around.

“I have… news.” Aphrodite started.

She seemed hesitant. Nervous. She kept looking around the room, triple checking that it was just the two of them.

“I have news, and I need you to promise- no, swear on the River Styx that you won’t tell Zeus or Jupiter what i’m about to tell you. They can not know.” She said.

“I swear on the River Styx I won’t tell Zeus or Jupiter. Now, what is it you need to tell me?”

She was standing with her back to a column. She took a deep breath, and then began her story.

“It’s about Percy. He’s in love.” The news she shared was joyous to Poseidon, but the way she spoke only invoked dread.

“That’s… wonderful! Why do you sound so afraid then? Has he gotten back together with Annabeth or something?”

Athena stepped out from behind the column that Aphrodite was leaning on.

“He’s not back together with my daughter, is he!?” She said through gritted teeth. 

Aphrodite screamed and stepped away from the column. 

“No! No! I- How did you even get in here?” She asked.

“A servant told me that you went rushing to Poseidon’s temple. I needed to be sure that my daughter wasn’t being tainted again.” She explained it all as if it were the most obvious explanation in the world. 

She looked around the pool room, and scrunched up her nose. 

“Whoever built this room needs to be hung from Olympus,” She said.

Poseidon didn’t have the heart to tell her that she had been the one to design it. She hadn’t been sober, as it was after a long night of betting on who would win the first World War, but he had somehow convinced her drunk self to come up with a design for his palace. It had amused him greatly to have a room designed by her in his temple, knowing that she would have hated the thought of one of her designs belonging to him.

“I agree completely,” He said.

She eyed him suspiciously, but gave up her searching in his face and instead turned her attention back to the goddess beside him.

“Well if the little runt’s not in love with my daughter, then who is he in love with?” She asked.

“Rachel, Piper, Katie, someone he met in the mortal world?” She said.

If Poseidon didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Athena might have cared about his son, just a little bit. She cared enough to know a list of people he had friendships with, and she must have known that Rachel and Percy had been sort of a thing for a little bit.

“No…”

“Well, is it someone from Camp Half Blood? Camp Jupiter? Is she as dumb as he is? I think dating Annabteh may have made him realize that he’s not the brightest-”

“Enough! Aphrodite, just spit it out already.” Poseidon said. He was growing annoyed.

Aphrodite made Athena swear on the River Styx as well. Athena rolled her eyes, but complied with her request. Whatever it was, Poseidon couldn't possibly see what the big fuss was about.

“Percy and Jason are in love.”

He stopped breathing- he didn’t need to breathe, he was a god. But for a single moment, he was entirely frozen. 

Athena gaped at Aphrodite. Then she burst out into a fit of loud laughter.

“You have to be kidding! Oh my word, when Zeus finds out about this!” She said, almost hunched over from laughing.

“You promised you wouldn't tell!” Aphrodite pleaded. 

She shook her head and tried to calm Athena down. 

“Besides, that’s not all. There’s another thing. A more important thing.”

She made sure both of them were looking at her. 

Poseidon was still reeling. He didn’t have a problem with Percy dating guys, but out of all of the men in the world, he had to choose Jason? 

“I think someone is influencing them. Channeling their feelings.”

“Are you saying that someone is making them fall in love?” He asked.

“No! That’s not even possible. Love doesn’t work that way. It can’t start from nothing, or at least, anything that lasts for longer than a few hours. This isn’t that. They were interested in each other, but someone is… speeding things up. The thing is, I don’t know who would go through the trouble.”

Athena had stopped her laughing, she was in wisdom goddess mode now.

“And there is no one who would be at the top of your list of suspects?” She asked.

“The only one I can think of would be-” She stopped herself.

Poseidon felt the room tense. They all knew what she was about to say, the unspoken name hanging above each of them.

“Cupid.” Athena said carefully. 

“Yes. Cupid.” Aphrodite repeated, looking around the room like he might appear before her. 

He might, Poseidon thought.

Cupid was a sore subject around Aphrodite and Venus. He had been royally screwed over in the switch from Greece to Rome. Once, he was the primordial being of love and sex. Now, he had been diminished to being a child of Venus. Poseidon dared not even think about his real name. The thought alone had power.

Cupid once had an older name. A more powerful name. Now, the mortals knew him as Cupid. Like Pan, who had faded from the mortal consciousness, Cupid was dealt a heavy blow. He was stuck in the form of a cherub, but a cherub who had the capacity to transform into a world ending threat. He hated Venus, he hated all of the gods. If he was acting now, he must have had a plan. 

A plan in which Percy and Jason were apparently front and center, Poseidon realized. He couldn't deal with this right now. He shimmered again, and Neptune appeared. Neptune was the younger of the two, but he also wasn’t as emotionally attached to this. He needed rational thought right now, and Neptune seemed to be the closest thing.

He regretted it the second Neptune opened his mouth.

“Well, this is just a stick up the old bum hole, isn’t it chaps? What’s say we all head to the bloody pub, and get us some crackin’ fis-”

He changed back.

The room was silent as the two goddesses stared at Poseidon.

“English Channel?” Athena guessed.

He nodded.

“He’s a moron.”

He nodded.

The trio looked at each other. He saw uncertainty in each of their faces. What were they supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize to anyone from the U.K and Ireland.


	9. The Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cupid makes a key move in his plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter involves severe violence against young demigods.

THEN

JANUARY 2011

Cupid stretched his wings behind him as he looked at the figure beneath him. The fire in front of him slowly died. Hestia was marked with various cuts and scrapes. She looked up at him like he was a monster.

They were in his penthouse suite. He had only been living there for a few months, but he was already loving it. It had belonged to an ostentatious multi billionaire before he had… taken over residence. The place was done in a Baroque fashion, with gilded pillars and marble floors. It looked like his very own palace. They were in front of his largest fireplace. 

He had tricked her into coming. He knew she couldn’t resist tending to a hearth, and also that she wouldn’t part ways with the thing he needed.

He placed his hand under her chin, he wanted to reassure her that he meant no harm. No further harm, that was. The battle had been incredibly easy. While his other form was a vague shadow of its former self, Cupid was more powerful than ever. The mortals had formed a strange connection with the stupid cherub form, letting him easily overtake the weak goddess. She was much closer to his alter than he was as Cupid. She stood no chance.

She jerked her head away from his hand. Her eyes were full of fire, she was not his number one fan. It didn’t matter, he had other people for that. 

“Get away from me, you wretch!” Hestia spat.

She clung to the box she was holding just a bit harder. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He pulled the box from her grip. She flailed at him, but it was pointless. He tusked at her.

“My dear Hestia, I hope there are no hard feelings about this, it’s just… I need this. I’m sure you understand. We’re very similar, aren’t we?”

You and I are nothing alike. You disgrace our divine kind with your actions, just like you disgrace that suit you are wearing.”

He frowned at her. What was wrong with his suit? It was one of a kind, as in, he had forced his favorite designer to make it for him, and then killed the poor bastard so he wouldn’t make anything like it again. It fit him like a dream, although he wished his body was just a little bit older. He was currently only a bit older than twenty, but it was multitudes better than the fucking cherub he had been forced into. 

A movie had come out recently, featuring Cupid as one of the hottest male celebrities out there. Thanks to that, the name Cupid was currently related to that image. He was always amazed with how quickly the mortals' perceptions could change. Now that he had the box, he could soon change that.

“I think we are, my dear. You, me, Pan, countless others, we’ve… faded away throughout the years. Look at yourself! People barely even know you exist! Honestly, it’s a miracle you haven’t completely lost yourself like Pan. I know you might despise me right now, but I want to change that. I want to help all of us. The gods have had their time in the spotlight, it’s time for a new era to begin.”

“You have no control over who is in charge, it is not in any single diety’s control. Your arrogance is staggering.”

He laughed at her. She knew nothing of what she spoke.

“We will see, won’t we? I have a feeling this box here will help me achieve my dreams.”

She paled. She may not know exactly what he was planning, but maybe a vague idea would be forming. The embers behind her glowed, and he took a step back. The fire erupted from the hearth, but it was too little. Hestia moaned and gripped her sides. The exertion must have been excruciating for her.

The fire died out. Hestia laid before him in a heap. She tossed and turned in her agony. He clapped his hands. The door behind him opened. Two of his followers entered the room. In their hands, they held Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold chains. He left them to subdue the defeated goddess, and entered his private study. He placed the box on the desk in front of him. 

It changed form constantly, and it was currently a sleek mahogany jewelry box with a gold inlay. Such a simple box held a power that none could rival. It held his hopes, his dreams. It was empty. Once upon a time, a foolish woman had opened it. Pandora’s Box was his, but it was only the first part of his plan. 

\----

NOW

JULY 2012

MORNING OF THE SWIM

The two demigods knelt before him. They were shackled with heavy chains. One was a boy no older than 12, his hair was a deep brown, almost black. His eyes had a gleam to them that made him look like he was always plotting something. Hermes’s child. His followers had captured the boy trying to steal from a bodega on the streets. The boy had only been claimed the day before, and only a single seeker had gone to fetch him.

That would be the girl kneeling beside him. She was much older than him, almost 17, and she was beautiful. Her beauty was currently being ruined by disheveled hair and make up that had begun to streak from her incessant crying. A daughter of Aphrodite. She hadn’t shut up.

“Please!” she begged. “Please, just let him go, you can keep me!”

“I don’t need your help!” The boy next to her said, pulling away from her.

She looked up at Cupid with a wild look in her eyes. 

“Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just let him go. I promised to protect him!” 

He rolled his eyes. Mortals had a way of being so dramatic. He stood from the throne he had gotten installed the other day, and walked over to them. He bent over, and smacked the girl as hard as he could. Her head whipped to the side with a crack. She looked at him, furious, and much more determined than she had looked before. 

It had been an act. The girl was a warrior, not a meek sheep. He didn’t believe her performance for a second. She was a trapped animal, and she was trying all of the tricks up her sleeve. Stupid.

He walked over to the table besides his throne and picked up the box. It was marked with intricate runes. It had taken many months to prepare, and now he was ready. He placed it on the floor in front of the two and opened the lid. Even with the light streaming into the room from the wide window next to them, the inside of the box was entirely dark. 

The two demigods looked at the box in confusion. They had no idea that they were in the presence of magnificence. They looked back at him.

“What the fuck is this supposed to be?” The boy asked. 

He had no respect. Cupid would enjoy this.

“It’s something very special to me,” Cupid said.

“It looks like shit.”

Cupid stilled his rage. While he had a healthy respect for mortals, demigods always had a way of challenging that. They were always so rash and insufferable. He shook his head, clearing the insult from his mind.

“I’m going to let you both go,” He said. “All I want in return for your freedom is some of your time.”

“What do you want from us?” The girl asked. She kept her gaze on the box. She must have sensed that there was something special about it. Maybe she was starting to suspect what it was.

“I just need you to recite some very important words for me. That’s all.” He pulled out two sets of note cards from his pocket and held them in front of the pair. It was ancient Greek writings, the left one spelled out phonetically for the young boy. It was a simple rhyme.

The boy snorted.

“That’s it?” he asked. “You brought us all the way up here to read some stupid card?”

Cupid smiled.

“That’s it. If you're not satisfied, I’ve prepared a special treat for your compliance. He clapped his hands, and two of his followers came into the room. They both held a heavy case in their hands.

“For you, I’ve prepared a small sum of money. One million dollars, to be exact.”

The boy’s mouth dropped. It was sad really, how such a small amount of money invoked such interest. The girl kept her eyes on the box.

“For you, my dear, I’ve prepared something truly special. Open the case.”

The case opened with a click. He saw the girl glance up, and let out a scream. A tablet sat in the case, streaming a video of an elderly man with his hands placed on his head. He knelt before a pair of two more of Cupid’s followers, an elderly woman and a young man. The old man had a gun pressed to the side of his head. He looked at the camera, and saw the scene in the penthouse.

“Becky!”

“Dad!”

Cupid clapped, and the case was closed. Becky pulled with all her might against her chains, but it was useless. She let out a yell of pure hatred and continued to pull at her bindings.

“I see that upset you, but I can make everything okay again,” Cupid said.

“All you have to do is read the card.” He continued.

“Why!”

“That’s none of your concern,” he told her.

“Don’t do it!,” she yelled at the boy next to her. He looked shaken from the scene he had just witnessed, but he shook his head at her.

“Are you crazy? I need the money and you need to make sure he won’t hurt your dad! Who cares about what he needs from us?”

“It’s a trick, we can’t give him what he wants!” 

The boy took one last look at her before facing the card again. He read the verse out slowly, not knowing even half of what he spoke.

“No!”

He finished reading. The girl braced herself like she was waiting for an explosion. Nothing happened. The room was still as the boy and girl looked around them, looking to see what had changed. 

“There, you see?” I told you that’s all it was. Why don’t you go next, love?” Cupid said, nudging the card a little closer to her face.

She shook her head. 

“Kill her father,” Cupid said, all emotion gone from his voice. 

“No!”

“Then read it!” He shoved the card in her face now. 

The girl stared at the words in front of her. She understood Greek, but this was different. It wasn’t a sentence, or anything comprehensible. It was parts of words and phrases. It didn’t seem like anything harmful, Cupid had been sure of it. There was nothing in it that would make her unsure.

She spoke. The words rolled off her tongue, and before too long, she was done. She looked around the room again, trying to see if anything had happened.

“Is that it?” she whispered.

“That’s it!” Cupid said, with a smile on his face.

“Are you going to let us go now?” The boy asked. He had his eyes on the case that held his money.

“In a way.”

His two followers stepped behind the two demigods and made their move. The one on the left sliced the boy’s throat, and pushed him forward, so his open neck was held over the open box. Blood gushed into the space, but despite the small shape of the box, no blood leaked out. It was like a bottomless hole, and Becky stared at the way the boy’s blood fell into the void.

She screamed. The follower behind her held her still, and waited for the boy to finish. When the blood stopped, the follower who had been holding him picked him up and carried his corpse out of the room. 

Becky flailed away from the follower who held her. She whipped her head around to crash against the side of their head, but was met with air. The man holding her was fast in his reflexes, and she barely had any time to react before his hand flicked out and a similar gash opened at her neck. 

Cupid watched in idle amusement as the box took its fill. It was still hungry, he knew. He would feed it. He didn’t care how many people it took, he would give the box what it needed. It had a presence, a weight in the room. He respected it. 

He looked out at the city outside the window and breathed in the smell of copper. 

“Kill the girl’s father.” He said to the remaining follower.

“Yes, my lord.” The man spoke.

The man bent down to pick Becky's body up off the floor and stopped as a small chime echoed through the room. He looked around for the source before realizing it had been the phone they had confiscated from the girl. A text was waiting for her.

'Everything okay?' the small text read. The sender, a someone named 'Will.'

"Ignore it," Cupid said, "It will draw them to us when they realize that something is wrong."

The man nodded and resumed his task of corpse disposal.

The city outside was bright. He could see the cars and people far down below, almost like ants beneath his feet. The mortals were going on with their lives like they always did. They had no idea what was coming. No one did. 

He picked it up off the floor. It was heavier than it was before, and the gold inlay shone brighter than it had. It pushed power through him, and he felt its effect take hold. He stretched out his wings behind him, feeling the shift begin. White feathers turned black and gold. He grew a few inches, and he filled out some. Now, he was in his prime. He looked like he was in his early thirties, with jet black hair slicked into a fashionable cut. He ran his fingers through his hair.

He laughed out loud at the world around him. He was back. Eros stood before the city far below him and cackled. This was only the beginning, he knew. His current form was still far too weak to do what he planned on doing, but it was a damn good start.

To think that this was only a side effect of his plans. The box was going to enable him to do far grander things than just return to his previous form. It would change everything.

Behind him, Alexander entered the room. He took a deep bow, and knelt on his knee, awaiting his instructions.

"My lord," He said.

Eros watched him from the reflection in the window, never turning to face him. Alexander was one of his closest pupils, and a key point in his upcoming plans. 

"How are things coming along?," Eros asked.

"Exceeding well, my lord. We are in the final stages of preparations, and we are ready to act when you call."

"Good. Tend to Hestia. I know she hasn't been cooperative, but it really would be a shame to lose her this close to the start of my reign."

Alexander rose from his spot on the floor and bowed again. As he turned around to leave, Eros called out to him.

"Alexander, when you get back from tending to Hestia, I have something I need to talk to you about. There are about to be many demigods roaming the streets of New York searching for their missing compatriots. There needs to be someone to lead our response."

Eros could see the reaction in Alexander. The man shuddered in delight. Alexander was eager to please, so he knew he would be safe trusting the next important step to the man.

"Thank you, my lord. I will return in but a moment."

Alexander exited the room. Eros scoffed. 'My lord' this, 'my lord' that. What kind of mortal even talked like that? It was so obvious that Alexander was desperate for approval, which Eros intended to use to his advantage. while he had a healthy respect for mortals and their place in the universe, he also found himself loathing some of their less desirable traits. He focused his attention back to the city, trying to see if he could spot the little demigods filtering the crowded streets. He had set his trap, all he needed to do now was wait.

He focused his attention to the back of his mind, and stopped. The connection to the two young men was no longer there. Aphrodite must have been desperate if she was willing to cut them out of the system completely. It meant that no one could interfere with their emotions, or their connection. No matter. He had already set them in motion. For now, they would love each other. Later, they would destroy each other. He laughed to himself as he thought of all the ways it could happen. He would enjoy himself watching the next few events unfold. The day was truly just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A double off chapter??? 
> 
> Yes. It looks like someone named Will is about to be in for a cruel surprise.


	10. The Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Percy are scared of two dogs.

Percy opened his eyes and got off of his bed. His feet knocked over several empty beer cans, and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he looked around. The yellow light filtered in from the dirty window next to him, and he could already smell the musty smell of the old boots perched there. He sighed. Another day back home. Another day of stupid Smelly Gabe.

He got up and made the slow trudge towards the living room. It was 10 o'clock, and Gabe should have been at work already. That meant he was safe to rummage around the kitchen. His mother was also at her job. The only time he got to be away from Smelly Gabe, he was also away from his mother. He had been home for two weeks, and he had barely even gotten to see her, since she had started taking up a late shift to save up for college classes at the local community college.

He rifled through the fridge. Junk, junk, beer, junk. There was almost nothing for him to eat. Gabe had taken up most of the space with his beer cans and tupperware containers of some kind of slimy microwave ready meat. For being a horrible douchebag, the man knew how to meal prep apparently.

He was opening the sixth container of slimy meat and cold vegetables when he heard it. The toilet flushed. His blood ran cold. Someone was here, and it wasn’t his mother. She never took off work, because she was a responsible human being with actual feeling and care for others which meant the only other person it could be would be-

“What the fuck are you doing going through my shit, you little twerp?” A rough voice asked behind him. He whipped around. Gabe stood in the doorway to the kitchen, looking at him like he was one of the roaches who liked to pop up everywhere around the house.

“I-” He couldn’t speak. He never knew what to say around Gabe. If he tried to act smart, he’d get hit. If he got hit, that meant he had to hide the bruise from his mother, or come up with a lame excuse for why he suddenly had a black eye. 

He hated Gabe, and everything that the greasy man represented. He wanted to tell him to fuck off, he wanted to slam the older man’s head into the doorframe. He wanted to show Gabe how it felt to be hurt. Like Gabe hurt him. Like how he suspected Gabe hurt his mother.

He put the container down and closed the fridge.

“I’m sorry,” He said, hating the way the words felt on his tongue. He just hoped that his weak apology would be enough to make Gabe ignore him for no-

A heavy smack sent him reeling into the kitchen shelf. He felt his tiny body crumple to the ground. A kick to the ribs left him gasping for air.

“You don’t fucking touch someone’s food, you little ingrate,” Gabe said from above him.

Percy seethed. He felt nothing but pure hatred for the beast towering above him. He hated the fact that he was so young, unable to act against the heavy man.

No.

He- He wasn’t young… Not any more.

This wasn’t real.

Percy stood up from the floor. He wasn’t a child anymore. He was eighteen, almost nineteen years old, and he was strong enough to beat Gabe’s ass.

He reached into his pocket, and found his trusty pen waiting for him. He uncapped it. Gabe looked at him like he was an idiot.

“What are you going to do with that thing?” He asked. He clearly didn’t believe he was under any kind of threat.

“I’m going to kill you. I’m going to make you pay for everything you did to me and my mom. I’m going to make sure you rot in the Underworld, and then I’m going to ask Hades to personally throw you into the pits of Tartarus.”

Before Gabe could react, Percy swung Riptide clean through his midsection. The blade made a singing noise as it glided through the air. There was no resistance.

Gabe stood tall, unaffected by the blade. He started walking over to Percy. Percy stepped back, and swung again. The blade swung through Gabe like he wasn’t even there. Percy might as well have been fighting a ghost.

Celestial Bronze, Percy realized in horror. The metal didn’t affect mortals. He looked around the room for anything he could use as a weapon, but he made the mistake of taking his eyes off Gabe. A hand gripped his windpipe and shoved him to the floor. He landed with a thud, and Gabe piled on top of him. He sat heavy on Percy’s stomach, his knees digging into his sides. Percy weezed for breath, and tried to pry the greasy hands away from his neck.

“I knew you didn’t have it in you,” Gabe said. “You’re weak, just like your stupid whore mother.”

Percy’s vision was going. He couldn’t get enough air in. He was dying. The back of his head ached from where it had collided with the wall. He felt so small. 

He remembered this. It wasn’t a dream, not entirely. It was the worst point in his life. He had pulled a knife on Gabe, hoping to finally end the nightmare. It hadn’t gone well. Gabe had given him a beating so bad, he had to explain to his mother that he had fallen down the staircase leading up to their apartment.

He had the chance to change things now that he was older, and it hadn’t even mattered. Gabe was too strong, and his sword was useless. The same sword had killed countless monsters, but it couldn’t touch Gabe. He felt so small and useless. His eyes burned, and Gabe laughed as he saw the tears form.

Percy couldn’t hear what he said to him, his senses were leaving him. A vague muffle sounded around him. His vision was all black. The muffle got louder.

“Mmhh!”

He couldn’t make out what was being said. He struggled with what little might he could muster against the hand holding him down.

“Pemmhh!’

“Percy!”

His eyes opened.

Annabeth stood over him, holding him down, not by his neck, but by his shoulders. He took in the wild look in her eyes, the way she looked at him with fear in her eyes. He reached out to soothe her and felt something fall out of his hands. Riptide clattered to the ground.

He felt himself go numb. He took in the scene around him. The way the sheets were torn on the ground, the small cut Annabeth had on her arm that was slowly leaking blood. Riptide had a thin smear of red.

“Percy!” Annabeth said, pulling him closer to her as she realized he was awake.

He pulled away. He couldn’t be near her, he had just- what? Attacked her in his sleep. He never wanted to hurt Annabeth. Shame washed over him.

“No, Percy, stop,” Annabeth said, trying to pull him closer.

“I’m- I’m so sorry.” He said. There was no emotion to his voice. He couldn’t believe what was going on. It didn’t feel real. It felt like he was still trapped in a nightmare, but he knew it was real. He had just done that. He had just hurt Annabeth. He could have killed her.

They stayed like that for a long time, Annabeth gently holding him, rocking slowly. He let himself be held for the time being. He didn’t have it in him to disappoint her again by pulling again. He felt himself check out mentally. He didn’t want to think. He didn’t want to feel. He just wanted to be alone.

\----

The sun was starting to set by the time Percy and Jason made their way back to camp. Every step back towards camp felt like he was walking to his doom. Jason was by his side, but they had both been quiet since Travis had left. They had ducked into a nearby bathroom to change into their regular clothes. Percy had their swim clothes packed away in the backpack on his shoulders. He couldn’t explain why he had done what he had done. Kiss Jason? He never imagined he would do such a thing. But he had. He had wanted to so badly, and he had given in. 

Now, he was going to stand in front of Jason’s older (younger) sister and pretend like nothing was going on between them. Percy wasn’t even sure what was going on between them. It felt so right, but also like something was missing… or maybe being added. It felt off, in a way that frustrated him. Thoughts popped into his head without him thinking about it, urges appeared out of nowhere.

But that had stopped the previous night. Ever since they had blacked out, he hadn’t felt that pull and tug. That meant that the kiss had been entirely on him. Whatever was bothering him before, it was gone now. He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse.

He snuck a glance at Jason and quickly turned away as his eyes met Jason’s. Gods, why was he acting like a little school girl around her first crush? He had fought Titans for crying out loud. He couldn’t look at Jason.

“Percy,” Jason said, slightly out of breath from the fast pace they were making.

“Yes, Jason?” Percy asked, hoping with all his might that Jason would talk about anything other than what he was about to say.

“We need to talk.”

There it was. This whole situation was unreal. He couldn’t even believe himself. Everything was going too fast, it was out of his control. He hated that feeling, like he was helpless. He wasn’t. So why was he letting himself be?

His thoughts were interrupted as the cabins came into view. Already, he could see the large group of Hunters, and the even bigger group of campers who had come to gawk at them. The Hunters were unloading large crates from the back of several large vans that were parked next to the Artemis cabin. They moved with an almost military precision. They were more serious than they had been when Percy had seen them during his trip to save Annabeth. It must have been Reyna’s influence.

Oh gods, Percy realized. Not only was Jason about to see his sister, he was also going to see his… Percy didn’t know what Reyna was to him exactly. Reyna had been sure that they would have eventually started dating, but nothing was ever certain in the world they lived in. They were, at the very least, close friends and former co workers. She also had two dogs who would rip their throats out if they detected a lie. The situation was suddenly becoming a lot more complicated.

From a quick glance, Percy could tell that Jason was having some of the same realizations. Jason looked around, as if searching for something. Percy wondered if it was those two damn dogs. Jason gave him a quick glance as well.

“The dogs…” he said, as he slowed down his pace.

“It’s going to be fine.” Percy said. Things were looking more and more like they were not going to be fine, but if there was one thing he could have control over, it would be in his ability to help Jason. Jason had helped him when he had been at one of his lowest moments, and now he needed Percy’s support.

“We just have to avoid lying. Just… be creative. We can work our way out of a bad situation by avoiding certain topics. It’s not lying if we omit something right?”

Jason nodded, but he still looked uncertain. Percy made sure no one was looking and gave Jason’s hand a quick squeeze. Jason blushed a faint red at the gesture.

“Thank you.” He said, looking away.

“Anytime.”

As they reached the camp, Percy saw a flash of gold and silver. He tried not to react too strongly and instead scanned the crowd for Thalia. He was still looking for her shock of dark hair when he felt a bolt of static in his right arm.

“Jason, what the fu-”

Thalia laughed. Percy groaned. Of course Thalia would scare him like that. He shook his head. There was something different about Thalia. She seemed… lighter. 

“What’s up, bitch?” 

Percy gaped at her. His reaction only caused her to laugh harder, drawing some of the crowd’s attention to them. Jason reached and smacked her arm lightly.

“Thalia! What kind of impression are you setting for the children?” He asked in a playful tone.

Thalia calmed down and nodded mock seriously.

“Of course,” She said. She reached her hand at Percy, eyebrows raised.

Percy eyed her hand, and shook his head. 

“I’m not falling for that again, Thalia.”

Thalia snapped her fingers.

“I see you’ve finally figured out my tricks. I’ll have to think of a new one,” She said.

Thalia was definitely acting differently. She had lost the seriousness he had associated with her, especially for a Hunter. He wondered what had changed. It had been a year since they had last seen each other. 

“So, not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, but… what are you doing here?” Jason asked.

Thalia frowned.

“What? I’m not allowed to lead the squadron of elite adolescents under my temporary command halfway across the country just to visit my favorite brother? Sheesh, people don’t even have appreciation anymore.”

Jason rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay. It’s a little bit embarrassing, but basically we don’t have any orders right now. We spent the past year hunting down the list of creatures Artemis had left us, and about three months tracking down a rare stag from the last letter she left us. Only, it wasn’t from her, it was from Apollo. And, it wasn’t a rare stag, it was a centaur he had bribed to lead us on a wild goose chase across the country.”

Percy cringed.

“That must have been embarrassing.” He said.

“Oh yeah, it was definitely a hit to the old ego, but uhh-” Her eyes trailed off somewhere towards one of the vans. Percy followed her gaze and recoiled at the sight of a decapitated head attached to the grill of the front.

“Thalia!” He and Jason said at almost the same time, looking at her like she was insane.

Thalia burst into another round of laughter and walked over to the van, picking the head up. She tossed the head to Jason, who caught it out of pure reflex. He let out a small shriek and dropped the head with a shallow thud.

Thalia was laughing so hard at this point that she was crying. Tears streamed from her face, and she crumpled to the ground. They were causing a full scene now, almost everyone’s attention was on them. 

After several moments, Thalia picked herself up off the ground and retrieved the head. She walked over to the two boys and held it up for them to see. Up close, they could see the details in finer detail. It wasn’t a real head, it was a rough mask stuffed on top of a foam head. Percy could see the bright white foam through small tears in the mask’s skin.

“I’m joking!” she explained. “We didn’t kill the guy, we just beat the crap out of him. I figured it would be a good joke to play on Apollo though. We’ve been carrying this around for months waiting for the opportunity to use it, but I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer before the gods come back.”

Annoyance surged through Percy. He could see that Jason looked ticked off as well. Without even thinking, he reacted. He felt a pressure in his gut build up, but wasn’t sure where the feeling was coming from. They weren’t near the beach, and he wasn’t pulling from the local plumbing. 

He saw it in the corner of his eye. Grass wilted and turned grey as beads of light green formed and floated into the air, forming a ball about the size of a basketball. The patch of grass was disturbingly large, and Percy couldn’t even voice a warning before it flew through the air and landed with a heavy smack against Thalia’s side. The water sloshed away, not hitting her too hard, but leaving a massive green stain against her white clothes. 

She let out a yelp as the cold water fell away, and gave Percy a death glare as she saw the after effect of the water.

“What the Hades, Percy?” She yelled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I swear-”

He stopped as he saw small crackles of electricity form around her. She was preparing for a counter attack. This was not the way he wanted their reunion to go, but at least they weren’t talking about anything awkward. He was looking on the brighter side of things for once.

Jason stepped in front of him, an arm raised protectively across him. Thalia rolled her eyes.

“Get out of the way Jason, I’m about to teach Percy a thing or two about the fun you can have with lightning.”

“Thalia, stop. You know as well as I do that any kind of shock you could give him would hurt a shit ton more than that water ball.”

Thalia was about to retort when a voice broke out from the crowd.

“Stop.”

Reyna stepped forward and put her hand on Thalia’s shoulder, seemingly not caring that licks of raw electricity crawled along Thalia’s skin. Thalia glowered for a moment before relaxing her pose. She let out a breath.

“Fine.”

Percy relaxed his body too. It was in that relaxation that he felt the tension. He hadn’t realized how tense he had become, only worried for Jason in the moment. As he relaxed, he felt his power wind down. His power, that he hadn’t even known he was using. He sensed several large orbs of water go back into the ground. He couldn’t see them, but he instinctively knew where they were. Without looking around, he knew several large patches of dead grass had formed around the sides several of the cabins, where green orbs of water had been ready to strike out.

That was worrying. His power was reacting on its own. He needed to talk to Jason about it later. If it ended up like how he had lost control of himself that night… he couldn't let that happen again.

“Percy, Jason, good to see you again.” Reyna said. She was in plain clothes for once, no Hunter’s gear or Praetor outfit in sight, and yet she still commanded the same amount of respect and attention.

They nodded to her, still wary about Thalia. Behind the girl’s, Aurum and Argentum were trotting over, looking at Percy and Jason. They sat by Reyna’s side, their ruby eyes never leaving the boys. The lie detectors were here.

“How are you?” Reyna asked.

Percy almost answered out of reflex, saying something along the lines of ‘fine’, or ‘good’, and wondered if the dogs would rip out his throat for conversational formalities. Was he supposed to answer honestly, or just say what everyone expected his answer to be? 

“I’ve been better,” he said, finding a middle ground. The two dogs remained still.

“Same,” Jason said.

“That’s too bad,” Reyna said, “You should be enjoying yourselves. Jason, I hear you finished your work with the camps? You deserve to relax.” 

Jason nodded.

“Yeah, I finished recently, but… It’s been difficult. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing now.”

Aurum growled softly. Reyna smiled, and reached down to scratch the dogs ears. Percy wasn’t sure how much of that the metal dog could feel, but Aurum looked like he was melting in her hands. His tail thumped against the ground with a dull thud in a rapid beat.

“Aurum here disagrees. But don’t worry. It’s not a serious lie. You know exactly what you want to do, you just haven’t realized it yet.”

Jason’s blush returned with a vengeance. Percy saw him almost turn back towards him, but Jason stopped before he could give them away. 

Percy didn’t want to think about that question, or the way it was phrased. He did anyway. Jason wanted to do… something. 

“Jason, you look a little bit embarrassed. Something on your mind? Or maybe... someone?” 

Jason froze. Most of the crowd's attention had faded away, but there were still too many people watching them. He opened his mouth to speak, and froze. He looked at both of the dogs, and then up at Reyna.

“Are you going to make me answer?” He said.

Reyna scoffed.

“No, I wouldn’t do that to you. I just wanted to see how you’d react. You can relax, you know. I wouldn’t sick my dogs on you!” She said with a small laugh, as if the very notion was ridiculous.

Percy mentally facepalmed. Of course she wouldn’t send her dogs to attack, she wasn’t crazy. They had over wrought the situation. 

“But since you asked… I think I will make you answer.” She said, her smile disappearing.

“Is there someone you’re thinking about, Jason?”

Shit. Jason was frozen again. Percy could tell from the way he kept stopping himself from turning too far back, to avoid drawing attention to any connection between them. The situation they had found themselves in was ridiculous, Percy thought. He wasn’t going to let Jason flounder on his own.

“Uhh, Reyna? Maybe we shouldn’t do this right now, or here, or… at all really.” He said.

“It’s going to be really awkward for a lot of people if Jason says anything about your question. After all, the person he’s thinking of… is here right now.” He cast a quick gaze to the cabins on the other side of the clearing. 

It just so happened that between him and the cabins there was quite a large crowd of campers and Hunters. If anyone assumed he was looking at the crowd and made their assumptions about what he was doing, that was on them. He was looking at the cabins because they looked nice. He shot a look at the dogs. They stared at him, but remained still. 

‘Loopholes for the win,’ he thought to himself.

Realization dawned on Reyna. 

“Oh, yes. It would be… very rude of me to force you to reveal yourself like this. I guess I won’t force you to answer after all.”

Jason let out a deep sigh of relief and gave Percy a quick thumbs up.

“For now.” Reyna continued.

Fuck.

Thalia smirked, and finally brushed Reyna’s hand off of her shoulder. Percy realized that it had been there the entire conversation. Thalia hated being touched.

They must have become good friends over the past two years for her to tolerate someone touching her like that. It was that or… something else. Percy was thinking a lot more about same sex couples and how exactly that was supposed to work out and his thoughts drifted in that direction. It would make sense, in a roundabout sort of way. Kind of like him and Jason. Whatever was happening there.

“So,” He said, trying to keep his thoughts from going too far, “How long are you guys planning on staying?”

“However long it takes for the gods to reemerge. We don’t have any orders left from Artemis and she is not allowed to contact us. That, and the fact that almost all of the creatures we normally hunt aren’t returning like they’re supposed to. I guess they run on similar rules to the monsters.” 

Fuck!

This was exactly what he and Jason did not need. Thalia and Reyna were going to be here for gods know how long, and they were still trying to figure their own shit out.

“You don’t look pleased, Percy.” Reyna said.

“It means I have to put up with Thalia for another month,” He answered deadpan. The dogs were so convinced, they lied down.

“You little-” 

Reyna cleared her throat. Thalia glanced back and groaned. She settled on making a slashing motion at her throat at Percy, promising future vengeance, and then walking back over to help unload.

Reyna gave them one last wave, before going to join. Her dogs rose, and walked over to Jason. 

“Hey guys,” He said, reaching down to pet their heads. Aurum lifted his metal leg and promptly pissed a dark orange liquid onto Jason’s pant leg. Argentum pushed his body against the back of Jason’s leg and tripped him so he landed hard on the ground. Before Percy could react, they were sprinting after Reyna, who looked none the wiser about what her dogs had done as she was out of eye shot from the two of them.

Percy pulled Jason up from off the ground, and led them back to their cabin. Once the door was closed, he turned to Jason.

“I take it the dogs aren’t fond of you?”

Jason rubbed his back, and stretched out his leg to examine the rust stain that had formed. Percy set the backpack down.

“They were nicer back when I was a praetor. I think they’re mad I left without saying anything to them. That, or Reyna told them to mess with me.”

Percy laughed. It did seem like something Reyna would do, although he doubted she would ever admit it. Jason walked over to his drawer he had set up with the clothes he had brought over at some point, and pulled out a new pair of jeans. He stared at the door to the bathroom. He looked at the door, and then Percy. Percy was about to ask what was wrong, when Jason seemingly made up his mind. He reached down and undid the button on his pants.

Before Percy could say anything, Jason had shucked off his pants, leaving him standing in front of Percy in only his underwear. Jason locked eyes with him with a face of determination as he stood there for a moment longer before he replaced his pants. Percy’s thoughts shut down. He took half a step forward, and then another full step. He counted every breath, every step as he moved towards Jason. Time seemed to slow down around them as they drew nearer.

Their lips met. Softer, this time, than it had been previously. Where desperate passion had been before was replaced by a delicateness as they took their time. Percy pulled Jason closer to him, wanting to feel the other man against him. Their kiss deepened. 

Before he knew it, Jason’s tongue was pressing against his lips. Everything was happening so fast, but Percy wanted more. He let Jason in and met him with his own tongue. For a moment, everything fell away. All Percy could hear were the little breaths Jason made in the fleeting moments when they parted to breath. He could hear the small moan of appreciation as his hand trailed lower down Jason’s back. 

He wasn’t sure where exactly he was planning on going with all of this, but he guided them to Jason’s bed and they fell onto the mattress. The old springs groaned as their combined weight pressed down. Jason laughed into Percy’s neck, before trailing a line of small kisses on his neck. Percy let out a quiet noise.

He pressed his hands against Jason’s chest, feeling the hard muscle through the thin fabric. He was about to reach his hands under the shirt when he heard the worst sound he had ever heard. The door creaked open.

“Hey Percy, have you seen Jason anywher- WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?”

Thalia stood in the doorway. Jason leapt out from under him at the sound of his sister. He gave Percy a wild look, and tried to smooth himself back together.

“Nothing!” He yelled back, trying to fix his hair from where it had gotten ruffled against the mattress. He looked at Percy, terrified for them. He was met with a face of pure frustration.  
Percy was done. Fuck this. Fuck hiding. What the absolute fuck was happening right now? He stood up.

“What does it look like we were doing?” He asked Thalia. “We were making out, because we like each other. Do you have a problem with that?” His voice shook from strain, as he held himself back from completely going off. He wanted to smash something, do something to get out the anger he felt. His ears popped.

“YES!” Thalia yelled, charging at them. Percy waited for her to meet him. There were only a dozen steps or so between them. He closed his eyes, trying not to let anything happen. Jason touched his arm, and he opened his eyes. Jason looked at him. He smiled, reassuringly.

Time slowed down again. Percy could see Thalia charging them, each step in slow motion. She was ten steps away. Lighting crackled from around her, and Percy could smell ozone.

Jason turned to face Thalia and prepared to do something. His stance changed, and he took off towards her. They were mere steps from each other. Five steps, four, three, two ,one-

Two blurs of silver and gold rushed to meet the two and pushed the siblings away with metal paws. Jason skidded backwards, and Percy caught him. Thalia tumbled back as well, and two arms grabbed her.

Reyna held Thalia with a disappointed look on her face. She looked at Thalia, unimpressed, and let her tumble to the ground. Thalia picked herself up and went to rush Percy again. Reyna’s arm shot out and held her in place.

“Thalia.”

Thalia stopped and whipped around to face Reyna. 

“You didn’t see! You didn’t see what they were doing!”

“I can guess. I mean, it was kind of obvious, was it not?”

“No!” Thalia shouted.

Reyna shook her head. 

“We don’t have time for this. Something has happened. We need to go to the Big House”

A stillness went over the room. All three of them waited for Reyna’s next words with tense anticipation, but they weren’t even close to being prepared for what came out of Reyna’s mouth next.

“Will has returned. Nico is- he was rambling about Nico.” A look of dread formed on her face as she prepared to say her next part. Percy had never seen her like this, not even when they were facing down the Earth itself.

“He said that Nico might be dead.”

Fuck everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! If only there was an off-chapter explaining what happened to Nico and Will... I guess we'll never know. :(


	11. The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Nico have an important meeting with the Love God.

THAT MORNING

Will stared at the phone in his hand.

Everything okay?

He had sent the message almost an hour ago, and had still not gotten a response. Group H had settled into the New York safehouse on their way to camp the previous night. They should have already been up and moving by seven o’clock, but the small tracking dot put them frozen in the western part of Manhattan, blocks away from where the safe house was. 

He glanced over at the sleeping teen next to him. Nico was slung across more than half of the bed, but Will didn’t mind. He relished moments like these when his boyfriend could relax. It had been rough, the first year or so, but recently Nico had been doing a lot better. It made him heistat about whether or not to wake Nico up for something like this.

He thought about it. In all likelihood, it wasn’t a big deal. Group H was probably stopping somewhere for breakfast or something. Normally, it would be very looked down upon to take needless stops like this, but maybe they figured that they were so close to home that they could chance it. It wasn’t like monsters were something they really needed to worry about. The entire trip, he and Nico had only run into two hell hounds, and both had been… weird. They were almost docile, in a way similar to Mrs. O’Leary, but had run away before they had gotten too close. It still freaked him out to think about.

Group H consisted of a party of two. Becky Mallistre, and her ward, Thomas Colase. The young boy had been rescued from an abusive foster home, where he had been dumped by the system after several run away attempts. It was a bad, but heartbreakingly common, situation nowadays. Demigods were appearing more frequently, often in less than excellent states. Only now, it wasn’t the monsters they suffered from, just people. Becky had been chosen to collect the boy because of her experience with homes like that in the past, and her fondness for children.

It was making the stop along the way seem more likely. Becky had probably stopped to pick the boy something to eat before making their way to Long Island. Maybe. It had been an hour though, and he still had heard nothing from Becky. It wasn’t like her.

He let out a breath and shook Nico awake. The boy mumbled something about ‘one more game’ but Will shook him harder. No time to be dillydalling. A hard pit settled into his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this.

“What’s up?” Nico asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Will opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. He still wasn’t sure what was going on. It almost seemed silly now. His eyes rest on the screen, watching the tracking dot blink slowly.

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry. Don’t worry abou-” He cut himself off.

“Shit!” 

Nico jumped out of bed, sword ready as he frantically searched the room for an assailant.

“No, it’s not that. Look!” Will said, raising the phone for Nico to see.

Nico got closer to the screen and squinted. He had set his sword down, and was readjusting his pajamas. 

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” He asked, glancing up at Will.

“Exactly! Group H was just there. They were stopped for like an hour, so I sent them a message, asking them what was wrong. They should have been at camp by now, or at least close. They never responded. Now, another hour later, their tracking signal just- it disappeared.”

Nico ran a hand through his hair. It was shorter than it had been. Apparently it had been too much to deal with and too hot in the summer heat as they trekked across the country to find stray demigods. It was only about 2-3 inches now, instead of the 5-6 it had been. 

“Group H… That was the one that had…”

“Becky Mallistre and Thomas Colase.”

Nico nodded. He looked out the window, scanning their surroundings.

“Do we need to go check it out?”

“I think so. I don’t want to over react, but something tells me that this is serious.”

Nico looked at him.

“Where were they?” He asked, after a moment of hesitation. 

“Western Manhattan, I’m not really sure where though. I think it’s only about an hour drive from here.”

They were close by, thank the gods. After marking the location of over fifty demigods across the Great Plains, they were finally on their way back to camp. Each demigod had been assigned a crew to come pick them up, and he and Nico were currently shuttling three newbies back themselves.

Zachary, Brandon, and Olivia were currently sleeping in the other hotel room they had rented. They were all so well behaved, thankfully, so he wasn’t too worried about an early wake up.

“Do you think we need to send an alert out? Just in case?” Nico asked, opening a map to mark their travel route.

“No- not yet, at least. I just want to go there, and check it out. The last thing I want to do is freak everyone out and then find out that it was just a dead cell battery.”

He didn’t think it was that. Not only had they been at the safehouse all night, where he knew for a fact there were multiple phone chargers, but Becky was better than that. If she had known that her battery was going to die, she would have let someone know.

“What about backup? It looks like a few other teams picked up the same thing and are asking us if they should head over.”

“Which teams?”

“Uhh- C, F, and O said they could be there within the half hour. They were all headed back to camp as well.”

Will nodded. He was glad that he wasn’t the only one who had thought the occurrence strange. He also knew that the teams who had suggested to go were some of the most seasoned seekers they had, and he felt better about having some help.

“Yeah, I trust those teams to help us. I’m going to go wake everyone up, let them know that we need to head out.”

“Okay,” Nico said, as he pulled out their light travel bags, “I’m going to get ready myself, and pack up.”

Wll was immensely proud of the operation they were running. A few years ago, the system for finding demigods had been a hectic one entrusted to young and retired satyrs. Now, they were working with the satyr council to make the security of demigods safer than ever. Nico had matured from the vengeful young demigod racked by the guilt of losing his sister, to a coordinator of some of the most important work the camp was currently doing. 

Within ten minutes, they were ready to go. Will had changed into a light t-shirt and jeans, while Nico was wearing a dark hoodie marked with pale skull designs. Despite maturing in a lot of ways, his sense of style was still the same. Will smiled as he looked over at the teen sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

“The first team is reporting in. C team says that the safehouse is empty. F is on their way to the last known coordinates, but they're saying its a cluster of high rise condos.”

Every word sent a chill down Will’s spine. His instincts were proving themselves to be, sadly, right. There was definitely something more going on.

“What’s going on?” A voice said from the back of the car. Olivia.

Nico turned around in his seat.

“Um, nothing hopefully. We just are making sure another team is okay, and then we’ll be on our way to camp.”

He turned back to his phone, monitoring the situation. 

They spent the next few minutes in silence. Nico had his nose in his phone, and Will focused on the road ahead. They were still at least half an hour out when Nico sat up in his chair.

“Shit!” He whispered, whipping his head to look at Will. The three younglings were in the backseat, asleep.

“What’s wrong?”

“Group C just- I’m not sure. They just went silent. Their phones are moving crazy fast towards the same place as Group H.”

Will pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. Nothing drastic, but maybe it would shave a few minutes off their arrival time. 

“Group F- Fuck! Group F stopped responding too!” 

Will could hear the panic creeping into Nico’s voice. He pressed the gas pedal a little bit more.

“Tell Group O to stand down. Whatever is happening, it’s too risky to send people in by themselves.”

“I’m trying, but they aren’t responding either.”

“Where are they?”

“I’m not sure, they were almost to Manhattan, but they just stopped.”

“Maybe they heard you?”

“Maybe, but- Gods fucking damn it!” Nico breathed.

“What?” Will said, dreading the answer.

“Their signal just went dead.”

“Send the alert out.”

“It’s already out.”

The alert would send every demigod seeker into emergency lock down, making sure everyone was accounted for in a safe house that was supposed to be warded with enough seals from Hecate’s children that a small army shouldn’t have been able to get it. The same ones the safe house Group H had been in, but it was still better than nothing.

Will pressed the pedal almost fully down, the reeving of the engine was enough to wake the children in the back.

“What-” The voice was cut off as he moved to switch lanes.

“How much time until we get there?” Will asked Nico.

“Twenty minutes, but it shows a massive amount of traffic coming towards us.”

Will felt the urge to curse, or smash something, but both options would only serve to frighten the children they were currently protecting. 

“What’s our plan?” Nico asked.

“I don’t know.” Will said, eyes locked on the road as he moved in and out of lanes. He didn’t want to take three young demigods into a potentially dangerous situation, but there were currently nine demigods who could be in even more danger.

“Do you think we should go?” He asked Nico.

“Yes, but we aren’t going to make it like this.”

Will froze.

“Nico- Don’t you dare.” 

They passed into a dark tunnel.

Before he knew it, he was slamming his breaks to keep from rear ending a car that came out of nowhere, or rather- the car Will was driving had come out of nowhere. The car screeched to a halt, stunning the countless passerby as they walked their morning commute.

He stared at Nico, who writhed in pain. His whole body wavered for a moment, like someone had upped the transparency filter on him for a second. His body regained solidarity, but Will would still see small areas of transparency.

Nico looked at him apologetically. 

“Sorry?”

Will punched him in the arm, hard. Nico had promised him to never, ever use that damn power again, because it could cost him his life, and here he was, just casually shadow traveling a whole van several miles.

“Nico! You know better than that. You don’t know what could happen if you keep using that power. You promised me.”

Nico had the decency to look apologetic. Will maneuvered them into a parking garage near the spot so he could chew Nico out some more.

“I’m sorry,” Nico began, actually sounding remorseful. “I just knew we needed to get here faster.”

“Next time, ask me.”

“You would say no!”

“Exactly!”

Will opened the door to the van, but it swung shut. He turned to look. A large man had his hand on the car door, pressing it shut. Behind him, he could hear Nico’s door swing shut as well. A shriek came from the back seat. The back car doors swung open, and several more cries came as the young passengers were hoisted out of their seats.

“Hey! What the hell is going on!” Will yelled. He pushed with his legs against the car door, but the man swung open the door and yanked him out, feet first. He landed with a heavy thud against the hard concrete, and-

Something hit his head, hard. Before he could see what hit him, something was pressed against his mouth. His nose filled with a horrible scent, and he gagged. As darkness crept in, he could see Olivia, Zachary, and Bradon already slumped on the ground, their bodies dangerously still. Nico was still fighting, but as the darkness overtook him, Will saw a similar rag pressed against Nico’s mouth.

\----

The smell of copper woke Wil. As the doctor in training at camp, he had grown accustomed to the smell. It usually wasn’t a good sign for any patient. His eyes snapped open. The room he was in was one of the most lavish interiors he had ever seen. It looked like it came out of a magazine cover, but one that only sold to like, millionaires. The rug he was strewn across felt like a cloud, and behind the copper smell, he could smell a heavy dose of floral scent. 

He looked around the room. There was a large throne set up in front of him. A figure sat on it casually, legs hanging off the side. The man, a man in his early thirties with a set of jet black wings, was watching him. He didn’t look please.

“I see you’re awake. He’s awake, everyone. Let’s just be glad his little boyfriend is still asleep.”

A figure in a dark red cloak was crumpled in a heap in front of the man, in between Will and the throne. He held the side of his face with his hand, and when he turned to get up, Will saw that it was the same man who had been at his door. The man locked eyes with him for a split second, an intense look of hatred startled Will. He certainly didn’t like the other man either, but he wasn’t sure what he did to deserve such a look of malice.

“I gave you one, ONE, instruction, what was it again?” The man in the throne asked. He sounded pissed.

“I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t realize that they were-”

The man’s wings shifted, and a sleek black feather flew out, piecing the man’s shoulder. He screamed and collapsed to the ground. 

“Oh shut it, you moron, be glad I don’t get my bow. Now, what did I say?”

“Don't- Ahhh! Don’t bring the child of Hades. I’m so sorry, we didn’t realize-”

The man clapped his hands, and two more figures in dark cloaks floated into the room. He pointed to the man on the floor.

“Give him to the box, he is unworthy. His foolish actions have set this entire operation in jeopardy.”

The first figure gave him a quick bow, before grabbing one of the man’s arms. The other figure grabbed the other, and together they hoisted the man back towards the throne. It was then that Will noticed a small box set at the base of the thrones several steps. It was a dark mahogany box with a brilliant gold inlay that hurt to look at for too long. The sun was already down, and the lights inside weren’t particularly bright, so Will wasn’t sure what could have been causing the bright reflection. The second figure opened the box.

“”Please, boss! Just give me one more chance, I can kill the little bastard myself, just please-”

The first figure withdrew something from their cloak, and with a swift movement, drew the silver shard of metal across the man’s neck. He gagged and stumbled to get away, but the two just moved him closer to the open box. A heavy pour of blood drained into the open box, much more than should have been possible from the angle and position the man was in. It was almost like the box was sucking the blood out of him. Will shuddered.

When the flow of crimson stopped, the man was carried out of the room. Before the figures left, the dark haired man called out to them.

“Bring the others. Give the Hades child an extra dose of anesthetic, if you would.”

The reference to Nico made Will’s skin crawl. What did this physco want with them? 

In a few moments, Nico, and the three children were brought into the room, thick chains against their legs and arms. Will tried to move, and found he had been bound the same way the entire time. His mind was still trying to process what was going on.

Nico looked like crap. His head swooned back and forth, and he had a heavy gash across his head. A dark bruise was starting to form on his cheek. Will’s heart ached. He wanted to go to his boyfriend, but he kept still. He didn’t want to set the winged man off, and it seemed like his temper was short.

Zachary was more or less okay, but his face was awash with tears. He hiccuped slightly as he tried to hold his sobs in. Olivia looked pissed. She sent dark looks to each and every figure in the room, whose numbers had quickly multiplied as several members dragged the kids into the room. As they dumped the kids around Will, they formed a loose semicircle around them, trapping them.  
Nico looked at him through drugged eyes. 

“Weugh?”

Will’s heart clenched. He wanted to act, to do something, but the winged man was terrifying. 

“Well, it’s finally down to the last group. Sorry for the long wait, but it will be worth all of our time. Are you excited? Will?”

Will froze. His mouth moved to speak, but he stopped. What was he supposed to say?

“Aw, are you shy? Don’t worry, i’m sure I can get you to say… something.” The man smiled at a joke only he was a part of. He held out his hands, and a figure rushed forward to hand him a small stack of note cards. 

He dangled them out towards the five children. He fanned them out, showing that he only held three.

“I brought you here because I need a little favor from each of you. Well, three of you. See, I need three people here to read just a little something from the notecards here. It’s nothing much really, but I would be very glad to whoever could read these for me. So glad, in fact, I would consider letting the three who read the notecards go. If you don’t read… you might find yourself facing your worst nightmare. I’ll leave it up to you!” He said, as he threw the note cards towards them. 

Will’s first instinct was to grab one, grab two, actually, and make sure that he and Nico were safe. But he knew he had a responsibility to the kids. Not only that, but he wasn’t sure what exactly was happening. Was it a trick? Were they going to be ‘given’ to the box like the man had been? He wanted time to think.

Before he even had time to voice his thoughts, each of the kids had grabbed a notecard and was reading the inscription out loud.

“Stop! What are you doing?” He cried, trying to stop them.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Solace, but I don’t want to die,” Brandon said as he finished reading. 

Zachary nodded.

Olivia glared at him. She handled stress poorly, and he had been trying to get her to come out of her shell more often, but it looked like it was all back to square one.

The man clapped his hands.

“Good job, children. Survival instincts are often lacking in your kind. It is nice to see that there are still those among you who would take what is theirs.”

Brandon gleamed at the praise. The man could have been actively killing Will and Nico and he would have probably still smiled if the man had told him he was doing a good job.

Will strained against his binding, but there was no way he was going to be able to break the chains. That was something someone like Percy did, not the medic. He was powerless to stop anything.  
Nico murmured something, too quiet for Will to make out. His eyes drooped.

The man opened his arms, and beckoned for Zachary to be brought forward. A cloaked figure led him to the throne, holding him steady. 

“Kneel, my child. For you are about to be blessed with a divine purpose.”

The figure forced Zachary to kneel, and slowly withdrew something from his cloak. Will’s heart stopped.

“No!” He cried. Everyone turned to look at him.

Nico looked slightly spooked, his eyes open wide as if he was taking in his surroundings for the first time.

“Weiug?”

His speech was still nonsense. Will was about to turn towards him to see if everything was alright when a blinding pain struck him. His leg felt like someone had stuck a hot knife in it, as as he looked down, the shine of a dark black feather met his eye. The feather was embedded in his leg, and he looked at up at what he knew to be its source.

“Do not interrupt me again, Solace.” The man growled.

The figure reached back into their pocket and pulled out their shard. As they reached around to slice Zachary’s throat, Nico sat up straight. The room turned twelve shades darker for a split second.

“Lights!” 

The room was flooded with lights, blasting away Nico’s trick.

“Nico, don’t! You saw what happened back in the car. You can’t do this again!” 

“Listen to you boyfriend, Di Angelo. Don’t be a fool. Try something like that again, and I’ll make sure to save a little extra punishment for you.”

Nico tried to glare at him, but his head lolled to the side.

He met eyes with Will instead.

Zachary kept staring at the man on the throne, in a trance, not even noticing the shard slipping towards his neck.

“Iegn thaorry.” 

“Nico, don’t!”

The room filled with darkness, completely pitch black. The lights they had turned on had nothing compared to the might of a demigod. Will felt himself slipping, first through his chains, and then through the floor. He felt the rush of wind in his ears as he dropped. Around him, he could hear the cries of children as they fell too. He felt a hand touch his back. Nico.

He turned to look at his boyfriend, but there was nothing to look at. There was no hand touching his back anymore. There was nothing but blackness. Nico was gone.

He crashed into a bed as the shadows dissipated around him. He knew without even looking that he was in the big house, in the space reserved for emergency treatment. He could hear the three children as they landed around him all in their separate beds. He hated them. He couldn’t look at them, but he knew it wasn’t fair. They were only kids. He would have sacrificed himself for them anyways, but they had never even given him the opportunity. He blamed them for Nico, but he blamed himself. Why had they gone to that scene when so many signs were pointing towards staying as far away as possible? Was their drive towards heroism so embedded in them that they would endanger their own lives, no, the lives of children, in their vain grasp for glory?

“Will?” A voice called out. He could hear the sound of rushing feet as several campers came to his aid, almost all of them children of Apollo. A tear fell from his face. Another. Before he knew it, he was sobbing into the arms of Austin, his replacement for cabin counselor after he had left with Nico.

Now, Nico had left him. The thought alone sent him spiraling again. He hardly even noticed as more people began to sprint into the room. He didn’t care. Nico was gone. He felt himself being touched, but he simply shrugged it off. What was he supposed to say? Nico was- Nico was-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Nico was what?


	12. The Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Hades have an important father-son moment.

Nico was dissolving. 

He could feel his body pull apart in small strands as he faded away into the shadows. As he fell into the darkness, he saw him. Will. Damn it.

He reached out to touch him, just one last time. As soon as his fingers brushed against Will’s back, they broke apart. He shattered completely, the single touch enough to destroy him, and the last thing he saw before his eyes were gone was a flash of blue eyes as Will turned around.

As heartbroken as Nico was, he couldn’t help but feel like the whole thing had been inevitable. Who was he kidding when he thought he was actually going to be happy for once? This was what was always going to happen, he was just glad he could save Will. Maybe he would find someone who wasn’t cursed to an existence of constant pain and disappointment. Will deserved to be happy.

The darkness around him was oppressive. It bore down around him, despite the fact that he no longer had a physical body. Was this what his death would be? Forever surrounded in the darkness he hated so much? He had mused in the past about roaming the Fields of Asphodel, maybe touring the great cavernous world. His father had once told him that he might think about granting him a bit more freedom than the other souls whenever he should die. It was odd to think about how that was the nicest thing his father had done for him.

The wind whistled in his non-ears as he continued falling. He wasn’t even sure what was happening anymore. He knew that he had most certainly crossed the line with his power, but what did that mean for him? Was he stuck? Would he ever even get to enter the Underworld?

The blackness around him seemed to pulse. That was new. It pulsed like it had a heartbeat, a dull pounding noise that repeated every few seconds. Nico waited. It seemed like an eternity before something else happened, and when it did, Nico almost missed it completely. In the corner of his non-eye, he saw it. A mote of light that glimmered occasionally like a speck of glitter. He tried to move forward, but remained fixated in place, the small sparkle still a dot on the proverbial horizon. That’s right, he thought. He no longer had a body. Maybe… He tried again, but this time not with any attempt to move a body. Instead, he willed himself to float forward, and found the dot growing larger. It was hard to judge distance in an empty void, but Nico seemed to be making good progress.

Nico reached the dot, and found that it actually wasn’t a dot at all. It was a tear, a hole that seemed to go somewhere else. He looked around the void. He still felt like he was falling, but the dot remained in place, meaning either he was actually still the whole time, or the dot was keeping up with him. He didn’t really care. What else did he have to do but go in?

As he floated into the hole, he felt the temperature rise. It was sweltering in there, and he didn’t even have a body to sense temperature. As soon as he passed through the opening into the new glimmering void, the entrance behind him closed. Now, he was surrounded by a glittering texture that blurred into a billion colors if he unfocused his non-eyes. 

The place shifted. It was like it rotated around him. Slowly, at first, before picking up speed. The colors blurred together, faster and faster until they blended together. It wasn’t just random colors though, Nico realized. It was images, slowly blurring in and out of existence. Images of himself, other people, people he didn’t recognise, people he did. All around him, images rotated and shuffled.

He chose a spot and floated closer to the images. Despite it being a void, the images actually grew larger, like they were fixated on a specific point. Was he still falling? How was this even happening?

The image that appeared took his mind off of the matter. Will’s arm linked through his, their hands meeting for a split second before pulling away. The moments when they held eye contact for a moment too long before looking away. The way Will blushed when he was caught looking at Nico. He always claimed it was because he was concerned with how Nico was doing after his near death experience, but Nico always believed there was more to it. There was. So much more, Nico still couldn’t believe he had actually gotten to experience it all. If he was dead, then he was at least okay with how he had spent the last few years of his life. His time in Tartarus was a stain on his mind, but images like this reminded him that despite the stain, there was still a beautiful mosaic he had been making for himself. When he focused on the picture as a whole, the stain didn’t seem that bad.

The images slowed down. Now, he caught snippets of words.

“Did you want to-”

“How about next week?”

“Thank you”

“Nico, I really l-”

“Don’t.”

The image on the screen was of Will, his face a mess. Blood trickled down his face as he looked at Nico and tried to beg him not to do exactly what he knew Nico was going to do. The last moments of Nico’s life. Darkness surrounded them as Nico shadow traveled them all away. Only, this time the image didn’t keep up with them. Instead, the image stayed right there in the place they had been. Nico had been delirious, and was still feeling the effects, but he was now able to appreciate the gaudiness of the room they were in. It reeked of having too much money, and not enough things to spend it on.

“Great! Great fucking job everyone!” The winged man said, flailing his hands into the air.

He whirled around to face his small crowd of hooded followers. 

“I will not tolerate any more fuck ups like this! Do you understand?” He seethed.

They all fell onto their knees, some of them visibly shaking.

“Yes, we will not fail you.” One of them spoke. A young man, by the sound of it. He rose from his knees and instead bowed. 

The boss nodded.

“Good, now that Morgan has fucked us over, you will need to prepare. The camps will find out about us, and no matter what they decide, those two will come. The exact opposite of what I wanted to happen. Deal with them before they get here Alexander, I know you have ties to the water boy.”

The young man nodded and took his leave. The other followers trembled. Nico wondered what the young man’s deal was. He didn’t look afraid of the man at all. Was he that sure of his place in the plan?

“Now,” The man continued, looking at the row of followers, “We still need three more sacrifices. Any volunteers?” 

Nico expected them to beg, to try running away. Instead, hands shot in the air as people offered themselves up.

“Please, pick me!”

“No, I am your most faithful, allow me to be a part of this!”

“Please, I beg you, allow me to make it up to you!”

Nico was disgusted. How could people just offer themselves up like that? Maybe he didn’t have room to talk considering he had just offed himself a few moments earlier. But that had been out of pure desperation to save the people he loved, and he wasn’t proud of it. If there had been another option, he would have taken it, but that damn blade had been too close to that kid’s throat.

The man laughed, a hearty boom. He signaled for a man to rise up out of the group.

“Vincent, start the next phase. I would have liked to wait until everything else was ready, but they know about us already. I want to see my name everywhere, got it? Please don’t disappoint me like Morgan, okay?”

The hooded man, Vincent apparently, climbed to his feet and gave a deep bow.

“Of course, my lord. I will not fail you like that swine! I will make you proud.”

“Yes, yes, be off now.” The man said, waving his hands towards the door. He seemed to be hiding his irritation.”I have some things to take care of,” He finished, looking at the group of followers who still had their hands raised.

The image dissolved, replaced by another just as fast. Sounds of screams and laughter filled the void. Clanking metal pounded as Nico realized what he was looking at. The trip he and Will had taken to that random state fair they had stumbled upon on one of their trips. It had been a brutal week of travel, and Nico had convinced Will to take a break. The roller coaster they rode on looked like it could break down at any moment. Nico told Will that it was part of what made it so fun.

Nico had spent a lot of his life in the Lotus, and more and more he had been noticing that he had missed out on a lot. The Lotus tried its best to offer up every single amenity imaginable, but even they were limited by space, at least to a certain degree. They didn’t have the room for a full sized roller coaster.

Nico still wasn’t sure how he felt about the Lotus Hotel. Yes, he had been trapped in there for the better part of a century, but without it, he would have never known the joys of modern life. The ability that he and Will had been able to mostly get away with a few hand holds in public. It still wasn’t great, as they had gotten more than their share of cruel stares or comments, but it was like night and day to back when he was born. 

The image continued for a while longer before dissolving. A new image filled its place.

A cabin, dark except for the few dying strands of light that drifted through the high window. The Poseidon cabin, Nico realized. He wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to be looking at when he heard a noise. A small moan. Oh. There was no fucking way he going to watch Percy hook up with someone. He tried to erase the image, swatting it with invisible hands, but the image stayed. Was the image going to rub it in his face that he had once had a crush on Percy by showing him hook up with some random girl? 

A bed creaked as two blurry figures collapsed on top of it. Nico could see Percy almost straddling the figure beneath him as their kiss deeped. Blonde hair peeked out from where Nico could see. A muscled physique beneath Percy. Jason nipped a trail of kisses down Percy’s neck.

Oh. 

The image melted away. Nico stared straight ahead. What the fuck? There was a lot to process there. First of all, he had actually had a chance? Second of all, why had he seen that? The images were speeding up again, showing a random couple sharing a milkshake, a young man stretching in his room. The other images he had been ignoring were blurring together, faster and faster until all of it was a blur again. Darkness slammed over him suddenly, and he gasped. His hands flew to his eyes, and he recoiled as they actually made contact.

His back slammed into a table, and he gasped out for a breath.

“Hello, Nico” A quiet voice said from in front of him.

“Huhh- Huhh…”

He flopped over to his stomach, and struggled to get off of the table. He ended up collapsing into a seat, but he didn’t mind. He focused on breathing in for a few seconds. He smelled the scent of flowers, strong, but not quite strong enough to mask the scent of decay that always lingered.

“Hello, father” He said, looking Hades in the eyes.

Nico had seen his father plenty of times, but he had never seen his father look so… sad. Hades looked at him with pity, an emotion he hadn’t been sure the man had been capable of feeling.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here so soon. I take it something went wrong up there?”

“I guess you could say that,” Nico said, looking down.

“You used your power again.” A statement, not a question.

“Yes.”

“Was it worth it?”

“That depends. Did Will make it to camp? The other kids?”

“Yes, although I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that Mr. Solace has not taken your absence well. It seems he cared about you a great deal.”

Hades stared at Nico as if he was seeing him for the first time.

“You know, I think I was wrong about you too. When you first started dating, I thought it was just another way for you to get hurt. I wasn’t expecting it to get this far. Or for it to end this way.”  
“Thanks?” nico said, not sure where his father was going with this.

“Nico, you abused your powers past their limit. Your power is like no other, and I’m sorry that I had not properly prepared you for its effects. When you were born, when I saw that you had the gift, I had no idea that you would have to use it like you did on that blasted quest. I thought you had the ability to use it without much consequence for at least a few more decades. I should have told you.”

“It didn’t matter. I knew that I was reaching the limit. Sure, I thought that maybe the two years had been enough to fix it, but I still don’t care. Even if you told me, I would have used it. I don’t have any regrets about what I did.”

“I see.”

Hades let his head drop into his head. He rubbed at his temple. 

"There is much I have to tell you, my son, but we have little time. Nico, listen to me very carefully. There is a dark game afoot. As we speak, key players are making their move. The end result...That's anyone's guess, but your friend, the sea's spawn, has been...chosen. He has a very important role to play in what is to come."

Nico wasn't sure what to say, his father was making him concerned.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I would like for you to have this," Hades said, extending his hand out. In it, he held a small black ball. Nico could see the contents inside swirl and twist. The ball floated towards him, and he grabbed it. It was cool to the touch, and he put it in his pocket.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Your move. When the time comes, it will grant you the ability to use shadow-travel for you and a small group of people one last time. I trust you will know when the time is right."

"That doesn't explain anything! Why do I need this?"

"The end is nigh, my son. Ruin and calamity await us all if we do not play our cards exactly right. I want you to have some leverage."

"You make it seem like you care about me."

Hades huffed. "Nico, now is not the time for theatrics. I know that I am not the best parent, but I think we both know that I've shown I care many times. We need to make haste."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but in case you haven't noticed, I died."

"Wrong," Hades said.

"What do you mean wrong? I dissolved, for crying out loud!" Nico said, standing up out of his chair.

"At this moment, yes, you are close to dying. But it is not impossible to fix. It just takes some... complications. I was getting to that."

"Now's a good time to start." Nico said, sitting back down. He didn't want tot get his hopes up, but the thought of getting to see Will again... It made him lightheaded with nerves.

"You have fundamentally damaged your godly genes with how you abused your powers. That, there is no fixing. However, if you were willing, there is something I could try. But, it is not simple decision to make. What I am talking about is a complete removal of your powers, not just shadow-traveling."

"You can do that? You can just... make me a human?"

"No, you would still be a demi-god, there is no changing that. I would just be removing the blessings given to you when you were born, For all intents and purposes, you would have no more connection to me, to this place. You would be a blank slate."

"I'll do it." Nico said. There was almost no choice to make. Yes, there were moments when he liked his father, but there was now also a way to live an actual life on his own. There was no chance he was going to pass it up.

Hades laughed darkly and nodded. 

"I see your mind is made up. I suppose Apollo's boy has provided more than enough reason for you to accept. Very well, I will make good on my promise. Nico, I love you very much, but, and I hope you take this the right way, I do not wish to see you back here for a very long time, understand? Now, come here, my son."

Nico rose from his seat and walked over to his father. Hades towered over him, but he had never wanted to hug the god more in his entire life. His hands shook from the nerves he felt. Hades knelt down next to him.

"There is one last thing, however. Nico, what I'm about to tell you is vitally important. You must do everything in your ability to see it through."

Nico nodded, and his father told him what he needed to know. Nico's face went white. Before he could say anything in response, he felt himself falling through darkness. For a moment, he was worried he would be stuck in the abyss again, but before he knew it, he had collapsed onto one of the medical beds in the Big House, landing soundly on the person who had been sleeping there.

"Ow! What's going on!" A voice called out from beneath him. No, not just any voice, it was Will.

"Will," He breathed, hugging the other boy, who looked like he was seeing a ghost.

Before Will could say anything, Nico grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eyes.

"Will, before I explain anything, I need to know something right now. It's insanely important, okay?"

Will nodded, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Where is Percy?" 

"He and Jason took off a little bit ago to go after those people in that apartment. We tried to stop them, but Rachel was with them, and they called the Gray Sister's Taxi. Plus, there was this whole thing with the Athena cabin..." He looked around the room.

Nico took a look around them. A plethora of blonde heads were turned their way, each one in a medical bed.

"They had a disagreement over something and things got heated," Will explained. "I just lied down to take a quick nap before anything else happened. Nico, wait- what's wrong?"

"It's just- Shit! Percy... He can't reach that penthouse. If he does, we're all doomed."

"What's going on here? Nico, you've been gone a whole day. I thought you were dead." Will said, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I'm sorry, but I'm asking you to trust me for right now. We need to go, and we need to go now, before Percy does anything we'll all regret."

Will looked away for a second, thinking, before turning back to Nico and giving a determined nod.

"Okay, but after whatever this is, you owe me a big fucking explanation, got it?"

There was a knock on the door.

"I think we could use an explanation too," Annabeth said, leaning on the door frame to the room. Piper stood a little bit behind her.

Nico made a small frustrated noise. They didn't have time for any of this.

"Find us a car, you guys can come with us, and I'll explain as much as I can on the way. Deal?"

Piper held up her hand, twirling a key chain on her pointer finger.

"Deal. Let's go then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, the next few chapters are kind of a doozy.


	13. The Think Tank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't tell Annabeth.

“And that’s what I remember.” Will finished, as he laid on one of the infirmary beds, cradling a mug of nectar infused tea. It was a Roman technique that had gained prominence in Camp Half Blood recently. It helped maintain the healing benefits of nectar while keeping the dosage in safe levels. Jason was one of the people involved in the knowledge transfer, practically prying the recipe out of the Roman medical officer’s hands. While most people wanted a quick and safe merge between the camps, there were still holdouts like that who slowed everything down for no reason.

Jason thanked him for his time, before pulling Percy away from Will’s bedside. He had grilled the poor boy for the better part of an hour, looking into every part of the story on what had happened with the son of Hades. Jason wanted to let Will have some rest, but Percy insisted, complaining on wasted time. Jason wasn’t really sure what Percy was hoping to do. They stepped out of the Big House and into the night air. Chiron had dismissed the harpies for the night, letting campers stay out longer than usual since people were coming and going from the Big House. Several of the cabins were already lights out, but several buzzed with activity.

The night air was cool, but Jason shivered for another reason. The look in Percy’s eyes was unfocused, but held a depth and barely concealed fury that looked fit to burst at any moment. His grip pulsed occasionally, sometimes just a light squeeze in Jason’s hand, but at other moments, a death grip that Jason had to fight not to pull away from. He knew that Percy needed the reassurance, and yanking his hand away might send the wrong signals.

He was guiding Percy back towards their cabin when Percy changed things up. Suddenly, he wasn’t leading, instead being pulled by Percy towards the Athena Cabin which was one of the cabins with their lights still on. He knocked, before entering and scanning the cabin for someone. He walked up to the closet teen and asked his question.

“Have you seen Malcolm?”

They pointed to the back and Percy thanked them, leading Jason along.

“What are we doing?” Jason asked, ducking around a duo who were arguing about some math problem.

“I need to see if Malcolm can help me with this. He does this thing, Annabeth hated it, she said it led to too many fights, but it usually got results.”

Malcolm was near a tall bookshelf, skimming his hands along the ridges, looking for something specific. He noticed them coming, a small miracle considering the noise and commotion the cabin was making. It seemed the Athena cabin was using the extra free time to get more studying done. 

“Percy,” He said, pulling his hand away from the shelf, “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” He looked mildly annoyed. Jason couldn’t tell if it had to do with being interrupted, or if he simply didn’t like Percy.

“I want you to hold a think tank.”

Malcolm perked up. He stood a little straighter and smiled.

“Really? I mean, I would, but Annabeth made me promise not to hold another one after, you know, the incident.”

“Annabeth isn’t here though, is she? Look, I’m not sure if you heard about what’s going on, but there is something seriously messed up going on, and Nico might be dead because of it, so excuse me if I’m being a little rude, but I really just need you to quit making excuses and hold the damn think tank.”

“How bad?” Malcolm said.

“That’s what I want to know. We don’t know anything about this guy. He could be just a loon, or he could be the next Gaia.”

The name alone brought the room to a standstill. People turned to look at them, closing books and putting pencils down. Jason resisted the urge to shrink beneath the gray, steely stares that were thrown their way. 

Malcolm rubbed his temples and sighed. He must have felt the pressure of the cabin’s curiosity, knowing that if they left without doing anything else, the campers would pester him constantly about what they were talking about.

“Fine. Think tank, everyone!” He shouted. The reaction was immediate. There were several whoops and cheers as people moved around the room, with the energy of an agitated beehive. Someone closed the blinds, another locked the door, and everyone climbed into their bunks, facing the middle of the room. Malcolm gestured to a set of three chairs in the middle that had been set up by one of the campers while Jason’s attention was focused elsewhere, and together they sat.

“First rule.” He said, not a question as much as a command.

“No one tells Annabeth.” The cabin repeated back, several of the older kids giving some seriously impressive eye rolls. They looked impatient to begin.

“Second rule.”

“No fighting afterwards.”

“Last rule.”

“No one tells Annabeth.”

“Good, now that we have that out of the way, let’s begin. Tonight, I call this think tank into order on behalf of one Percy Jackson, and Jason Grace. They seem to have some news they want our opinion on.”

He motioned for them to start and Percy nodded, standing to his feet. He explained to them Will’s account of what had happened, and Jason chimed in at several points to mention specific things he had thought were important. The wing color of the man. The detail on the box. 

Someone raised their hand.

“Are you two dating?”

Percy went beet red, turning to Malcolm.

“Stay on topic please,” Malcolm said, holding back a laugh. 

Jason hated the way he knew he also blushed, the way he couldn’t look at any one place in the room. He knew everyone knew something was up between them, but there was no official label on the thing between him and Percy. 

“Don’t ask obvious questions,” Someone spoke, sounding serious about it, as if the question itself was so easy to answer to be asinine.

Another camper raised their hand.

“The box, it sucked the blood into it?” 

Percy nodded.

“The obvious answer is that it would be Pandora’s Box then. It’s the first thing I’m sure most would think of when considering Greek myth and a mysterious box.”

“But I left that with Hestia,” Percy said.

“Well, where is she? We have no idea what’s going on in Olympus. Is there any possibility that he could have taken it from her? Besides, you’ve actually seen the box itself. Does the description sound familiar to you?”

Percy nodded.

“It’s… not quite the same, but I guess it could have changed, especially if he was doing something with it. What could he be doing?”

“That’s the wrong question to ask,” Someone said. “We have basically no idea what that thing is capable of, it is outside of our range of knowledge. It’s also not really needed. He’s obviously doing something bad, something that requires human sacrifice, so it doesn’t really matter, it just needs to be stopped. The better question is, who is he?”

“A wind spirit.”

“A minor god.”

“A new god.”

“Cupid.”

“Cupid has white wings, moron.”

“Don’t call me a moron, Trey, you got a 99 on your test last spring.”

“That was one time, and the teacher corrected it later.”

“Focus.” Malcolm said.

“What about Eros?” 

The cabin grew silent. 

“Eros?” Percy said, looking around.

“It can’t be Eros, he’s dead.”

“Did anyone ever confirm that, or are you just hoping? Because if we take the time when Pan died divided by his popularity among mortals, and multiplied it by Eros’s popularity, he should still be alive. Maybe that box is his secret weapon.”

“Oh so I can’t state the obvious but you can make up some super weapon based on nothing?”

“Why was Will in the room at the start?” Someone asked.

“What?” Jason said, confused at what they were getting at.

“Well, Will said that when he woke up, he was in a throne room, and later, the others were brought in by some guards. Why was Will there to begin with? He saw that guy’s death.”

“Maybe that was the point. He wanted Will to know what he might do if he didn’t read the card so Will would read it, and then be sacrificed. Maybe to hurt Nico? It sounded like he didn’t want Nico there.”

“Because Nico could shadow travel. He didn’t want anyone getting away.”

“How many people do we think he’s killed?”

“Counting Groups C, F, H, and O, that makes nine.”

“Plus the three that they planned on from Nico’s group. Why only get three people to be sacrificed? Do they need a specific number?”

Twelve sacrifices. Jason shuddered. The voices were coming from all around him, it felt like they were pelting him with their thoughts. He hated the way they talked about this all, like there weren’t potentially nine of their fellow demigods who were killed by that monster in an upstate penthouse. 

"Why does this keep happening?" A young voice asked. Jason agreed. This was the third major incident in the past decade? 

"It could be the Great Shift. Maybe we're moving from one age to another?"

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"Throughout Greek mythology, there have been five great ages. We are in the fifth age, the Hesiod age. What if all of this is like some great power struggle from one age to the next?"

"So a bunch of old gods are fighting over who gets to take over next?"

"It makes sense. Why else would Kronos and Gaia make their moves within a few years of each other? Maybe the time is coming up really soon, and they knew they needed to act."

"This is all speculation though, shouldn't we stick with the facts?"

"The whole point of think tanks is to think outside of the box."

"Does that means the gods are going to lose their positions?"

"Not necessarily, if they could maintain power, they could stick around through the next age."

"This is so unfair. Why does this have to happen now."

Jason mentally agreed. His whole childhood had been stolen from him, and now they were potentially facing the end of an era, with some massive consequences. It wasn't fair.

"Can we get back on track? What if this is Eros?"

“If this is Eros, won’t he need to do something about his lack of presence? He must be getting close to fading like Pan.”

“He can’t. Everyone knows it's against the rules for any god or immortal being to interfere directly with how mortals perceive them. Demigods can’t help either”

“What about the people working for him? Are they demigods, or mortals? What if they did something?”

There was a scoff.

“What could some mortals possibly do that could impact a god? Don’t say stupid things.”

“Shut up, Richie, you sound like an ass.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up, Meg, you just like sucking up to people because you want everyone to like you.”

“Don’t talk to her that way!”

“Michael, stop yelling! People are sleeping!”

“You’re yelling!”

“Guys.” Malcolm tried.

“You reek!”

“Your handwriting looks like chicken scratch!”

“Penny told me she thinks you’re an idiot!”

“That’s it!”

Several people were moving at once, all desperate to get to each other. Punches were thrown, blonde hair tousled as campers all around them took the opportunity to get even with anyone they had even a slightest bit of a problem with. The cabin was full of yells and swear and Malcolm tried his best to go to people, calm them down, but someone grabbed him by the t-shirt and yanked him down to the ground.

Percy and Jason gaped at the mess around them. Maybe Annabeth had a point in not allowing these sorts of things if this was how they ended up. Jason stood up and grabbed Percy’s hand, and together they carefully picked themselves out of the war zone. As the door closed behind them, they could hear Malcolm call out to them.

“Don’t tell Annabeth!”

The door closed. Percy stood still for a moment, before bursting out into strong laughter for just a few moments and he shook his head to clear his thoughts. Jason appreciated the way his hair got ruffled as he shook his head, and the muscular arm that reached up to straighten it up afterwards. Percy caught him looking and smirked.

“Like what you see?”

“Yes.”

Percy moved closer to him. Jason let him take on step closer, two, before turning and running back towards the cabin. He heard Percy call out to him in surprise, but if they were going to do anything, it wouldn’t be where Thalia could see them.

He pushed the door open, took a few steps inside, and strong arms caught him by the waist, twirling him around so they were face to face. Percy kept an arm around his waist, pulling them closer as he locked the door without turning to face it. No more interruptions.

“Look, I know this isn’t my place and everything, but… I don't-”

“Think Nico is dead? Neither do I. Never did. But he’s still gone. I have to avenge him.”

“Then what was that? What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to go get the asshole who took him from us. Whatever it takes.”

Their faces were so close now. Jason couldn’t tear his eyes from the sea green ones that had him locked in their gaze. 

"I'm going to rip him apart, limb from limb, if that's what it takes."

Jason shuddered at the cruel words, but he didn't pull away. Deep down, he felt that same rage, that same pull for revenge on the person who hurt his friend, his fellow demigods. It was a selfish pull, he wasn't even all that concerned with what Eros wanted. He just wanted to make the primordial suffer. 

“You can’t go, there isn’t a quest.”

“Hasn’t stopped me before.”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“I know.”

“You’ll need back up.”

“I was hoping you’d ask.”

Their lips met, for just a moment, before Jason pulled away.

“What is this?”

“A kiss?”

“Not that,” Jason chided. “What… is this? Are we just having fun or… We haven’t talked about this.”

“No, we haven’t,” Percy agreed, although he looked like he wanted to reconnect their kiss more than anything.

“Percy, I really like you. But, I guess you could say I don’t really know a lot about relationships. I don’t know what you want.”

“You.”

“How do you know? We- We just started talking again. It’s barely been, what, three days?”

“We’ve known each other longer. Don’t tell me you didn’t find me attractive when we were on the Argo?” 

Jason laughed.

“It’s just, look, I know I’m being pedantic here, but I don’t want to get hurt or hurt you. I just want us both to think a little.”

“I’m thinking a little bit about what I want to do with you.”

“What about Annabeth?”

“What about her?” Percy said, looking frustrated. Jason knew it was a sensitive subject, but instead of pulling away, Percy pulled him even closer. Their chests were pressed against each other, and Jason could feel Percy’s rapid heartbeat.

“Jason, I know you’re nervous, but listen to me when I say this. There is nothing between me and Annabeth anymore. Yes, I’ll always love her… and so on and so on, but as a family. She’s my best friend and always will be, but we aren’t together anymore, and for good reason, even if we do eventually both get over what happened to us. We weren’t good for each other, and we both realized that. Don’t worry about her.”

“Thalia, then.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“What about-”

Percy cut Jason off by reconnecting their kiss and it just felt right. Jason let his reservation peel away as they held each other. The world around them didn’t matter, only this. But there was still one thing. One thing nagging at the back of Jason’s mind, even while Percy kissed him senseless.

“Eros.” He said, pulling away.

Percy looked at him, a determined look in his eyes even though Jason knew what he was talking about, and how it could destroy their fledgling romance.

“I don’t care. I don’t care if he made us fall in love or something and I don’t care if he didn’t. Whatever happened, I like this. It confused me at first and I wasn’t sure what to think but this feels right.”

“But what if that’s what he wants?”

“He’s messed up before, and he’ll mess up again. You heard what Will said, he didn’t want Nico there, and for good reason. Now we know about him,and I’m going to guess a lot earlier than he would have liked.”

“But… how do we know?”

“We don’t. Look, I promised not to tell anyone about this but I’m guessing she’ll allow an exemption for this. Back when Annabeth and I broke up, Aphrodite IM’d me. It was completely against the rules, but she called me sobbing about how sorry she was, and how there wasn’t anything she could do. Love isn’t something that can be controlled like that. If two people are torn apart artificially, they have a way of coming back together. If they are brought together artificially, they tend to tear away. I think… if he did, or is influencing us, then we just have to see. But I’m willing to. I want to see where this leads. I understand if you don’t feel the same.”

Percy pulled away some more, creating a distance between them. Alarm raced through Jason’s veins. This wasn’t what he wanted. Yes, he was unsure about what exactly this all meant to him, but there was something there. Something more than any god or primordial could conjure up. Something that felt right in all the right ways. Jason gripped the back of Percy’s head and pulled them back into their kiss. The answer seemed to be good enough for Percy because he resumed with just as much force.

Tonight was about them. Not about Eros, or anyone else. This was it. In the morning, they were going to leave camp and make their way into hostile territory. There were demigods who were missing, Nico was possibly gone, but there was still someone who they could get back at. No matter what, Jason promised himself that he was going to get him and Percy inside that damned penthouse, and together, they were going to kill the damned primordial.

That was tomorrow though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is embarrassing. Sorry about another long wait but I actually thought I had posted this, only to find out I had just saved a draft :(  
> The good news is that the next chapter should drop a lot sooner because I'm already almost done.


	14. The Taxi Driver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper and Annabeth try to enjoy their time together.

Piper stared at the airport terminal in front of her, trying to make sense of where she was supposed to be headed. It wasn’t her first time in JFK, but the airport was even more busy than it had been when she had arrived in from California. She peeled herself away from the sign and instead opted to go browse one of the kiosk areas while she waited for the crowds to calm down. Her flight wasn’t for another hour after all, she had time to kill.

As she made her way through the section of airplane novels with handsome men clinging to women who looked like they were about to faint on the covers, she thought about picking one. The content was probably complete nonsense, but the flight was about 8 hours, so she welcomed any distractions she could get. Might be a good laugh, she thought.

She was tracing her finger over one promising novel when she felt it. The keen sensation of being watched. She froze for a moment, but resumed reading the back of the novel as if she didn’t suspect anything. The novel was about a young woman who had to fix a society that judged people based on colors they were given at birth. Apparently, she was a high class color, and she developed feelings for someone significantly below her station. Interesting maybe, but the author had a poor reputation after some of her comments came out.

As she scanned the words, she also scanned her surroundings. There were too many people to keep track of, but she couldn’t shake the feeling like someone was watching her. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

“Everything going okay”

“?”

“Sorry, I forgot the ?”

Annabeth. She had a habit of using correct grammar and punctuation even in text form.

Lol. Im good, my flight leaves in 1hr. Thinking about getting a book.

Piper snapped a photo of the book and pressed send. A few moments later, Annabeth responded again.

“What about this one?”

Piper whirled around to find Annabeth standing right beside her, a novel in her hand. The novel dropped out of each of their hands and they hugged each other, and a laugh spilled from Piper.

“What are you doing here?”

Annabeth brushed her blonde hair back into place and smiled. She had taken to wearing her hair down, instead of her signature ponytail, Piper had noticed. It fell in loose waves across her shoulders. It made her seem…happier. She embodied the spirit of a california girl, through and through. 

“I had a change of plans. One of my professors had a slight scandal a few days ago, so classes were postponed until further notice. It was actually a really big deal, it made the news and everything. I would have been mad, but I figured what better time to go somewhere?”

“Why are you even going to college for architecture, you redesigned Olympus.”

“I can’t exactly put that on a resume though.”

Fair, Piper thought.

“Besides, it’s always good to brush up on the basics.”

Piper had seen some of Annabeth’s projects from class. Was that the ‘basics’ she was talking about, she wondered. Because even looking at the complicated designs for too long had given her a headache. The amount of things that went into planning a building were truly impressive, and she found a new appreciation for it from looking at some of Annabeth’s work.

“But my ticket… Wasn’t it expensive?”

Annabeth waved her hand.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll be fine. I have more money than I know what to do with.”

Piper wasn’t sure how to take that. She let Annabeth guide her to the exit of the terminal and together they loaded into a yellow taxi.

“Times Square, please.” Annabeth told the cab driver.

“Times Square?” Piper asked. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do now. 

I’ve always wanted to go. I've been to New York so many times and I never got a chance to go.”

“Where do we go after this? Back to camp?”

“No, I actually rented this hotel room, you’re going to freak out. It looks insane. After this, I have a couple of other things planned.”

“Sightseeing, are you loves?”

The man in the driver’s seat had a thick, overly done British accent. Actually, Piper thought, she couldn’t quite place the accent. Something about it was off, as if the man was imitating the accent but was basing it purely off of other people’s bad British accents. 

“Uh, yeah. I just got back from University. Spending a few nights.” Annabeth said. She gave Piper a little side eye that said everything Piper was already thinking.

“Well, ain’t that cracking on, where’re you studying from, me wee wain is thinking about applying to places.”

“UCL. I’m on a short break.” Annabeth was carrying on the conversation, but she clearly wasn’t into it. Something about the man creeped Piper out. There was something dishonest about him. 

“Ahh, how exciting. It’s always a mighty time when you’re with your mates, ain’t it?”

Annabeth nodded unenthusiastically.

“Yeah, real fun.” She said.

The car fell into silence. The driver tapped the top of the steering wheel as they came to a stoplight. As he tapped, Piper realized she didn’t even know what he looked like. He wore a black baseball cap that hid his eyes in the rearview mirror and he never turned to face them. He didn’t look old though, maybe younger than his forties, as he still had a head of jet black hair.

“Yes, me wee wain is off on his own now, running around the city all grown up. I just hope he’s careful. There was that incident just a few hours ago. Stuff like that’s happening all the time nowadays.”

“What happened?” Annabeth asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Just a slight fire at some old strawberry farm. Don’t remember the name of it though, come to think of it.”

Annabeth shot up in her seat, shooting Piper a look. Piper pulled out her phone and started texting people. Jason? No reply. Percy? No reply. Lacy? Finally, she got a text back.

Yeah, everything is okay. No fire. Although with all of the hairspray in the air after Drew’s recent makeover victim, the whole cabin could probably blow with a few sparks.

Yikes, Piper sent back. Who’s the unlucky victim?

Some of the Hunters. They just got here. Literally not even five minutes and there are already fights. I think I saw Percy and Thalia look like they were going to bite each other’s heads off.

Piper showed the screen to Annabeth and she laughed. All was good at camp, and from the sound of it, Percy and the others were just fine. It must have been some other farm then.

They both relaxed back into their seats, glad that nothing was wrong back at camp, but Piper noticed the driver eyeing them in the mirror. Light green eyes met hers for a second before he looked away, tipping his hat down so she couldn’t see his eyes anymore. Nothing pervy from what she could tell, but almost… disappointed? It was like he was gauging their reactions.

The car drove on, and his tapping increased. The soft thumping of his thumb against the wheel kept a steady pace as they made their way through the city. It was already evening, Piper had spent most of her day at the airport. Somehow, it felt like a lot had happened. Her saying goodbye to the boys felt like ages ago.

That was another thing she needed to talk to Annabeth about. Later though, and definitely when they were alone.

“Do you want to grab dinner after this?” She asked Annabeth, who nodded in return.

“I was just thinking that. It’s a little later than I thought it would be, so I’ll push the other things I wanted to do back a day. Do you know any places?”

She was asking the question to Piper, but the driver spoke up. 

“I know this wonderful wee place just off of Times Square. It always reminds me of home. Do you have somewhere like that?”

Piper could see in Annabeth’s eyes a mixture of emotions. She hadn’t been back to camp for the past two years, it must have been tough, considering how fundamental it had been growing up. But there was something else. Suspicious.

“Where exactly is home for you?” She asked, innocently enough, but there was a slight edge to it, like it was going somewhere.

“Oh, uh, you know, all over the place back in Great England.”

“Great England.”

“Uhh…”

The man pulled over.

“Here we are!” He said. Annabeth handed him some money and they climbed out of the car. As he drove away, Annabeth turned towards Piper and muttered something.

“That guy was clearly not from anywhere near Great Britain. His accent was off, and he kept mixing up slang from different places. He creeped me out.”

Piper nodded, but she didn’t think too much about it. The night was still young, and there was plenty to do. 

They spent the evening window shopping at different stores, wandering through the busy plaza. They made their way past a dozen or so shoddy looking character costumes, and Piper had to use her charmspeak on a few to get them to leave them alone.

The night passed so quickly and easily that before she knew it, they were at an extremely nice restaurant, and Annabeth insisted on paying. As they waited on their meals, Piper turned to Annabeth.

“Okay, spill it. How do you have so much money?”

Annabeth waved a hand at her again.

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I just have some money saved up, that’s it. I’m just splurging for a friend.”

“I could pay for myself, you know.”

“I know, but what kind of friend would that make me? I brought you here after all. I’d be a jerk to make you pay.”

What kind of friend would that make me. Piper turned the idea over in her head. There were things she needed to say, but there was still so much uncertainty. She could be wrong, it could be nothing.  
But… She was the daughter of the goddess of love. She knew what she was talking about.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just… There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about Percy.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yes, but-”

“Then that's all I need to know. I know what you’re probably going to say, and I don’t mind. He can fall in love with any girl he chooses, we aren’t together anymore.”

“Well, that’s just it, you see-”

“Piper, I’m serious. It doesn’t concern me.”

“Okay. but I just thought it was important to let you know that-”

“Piper.”

“He’s-”

“Piper.”

“Fine, fine, if you really don’t want to know.”

“I don’t.”

They ate their meal in silence. Piper felt like her skin was crawling with the urge to blurt it out. That there was something she was sure Annabeth would have liked to know, considering it included both of their exes. But she respected the other woman, and wouldn’t bring it up if she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Gods, you’d mistake me with Drew with how much I wanted to gossip,” Piper said, laughing at herself.

“Oh, please. Don’t even compare yourself to her. Last time I saw her, she was debating whether or not to date two brothers at the same time to see how long it would take for them to fight over her. She gave the Aphrodite cabin such a bad name, I’m sure you could do literally nothing and still have a better legacy than her.”

Piper remembered. In the end, she had been the one to gently let Drew know that one of the brothers was dating one of the Hermes boys, and the other one was dating one of the girls from the Aries cabin. 

The rest of the dinner passed easily. The restaurant was fancy enough to have great tasting food, but not so fancy that Piper felt out of place in her pedestrian clothes. They took another taxi to the hotel where Annabeth had booked a room.

Piper whistled when they walked through the door.

“Fancy place,” She said, staring up at the gilded interior. It looked like a scene from a movie, a hotel where a millionaire would stay on a business trip. How could Annabeth afford all of this?

“You’re going to have to tell me eventually how you have all of this money, you know.”

I’ll tell you when we get to our room. If you think this room is nice, wait until you see that.”

“What, did you get the penthouse or something?”

“No, that was already rented out. I got one a few floors below though.”

“Annabeth. I was joking.” Piper said, stunned at how Annabeth had actually considered the penthouse for them.

They checked in with the front table, and were escorted up to their room by a bellhop in a spiffy uniform. As they got to their door, he handed them each a map, and a complementary goodie bag. Piper looked through the bags as Annabeth tipped him. Mostly fancy toiletries, some sample sizes of brands she knew were too rich for her blood. There was also the wifi password for the room, and a schedule of the hotel’s activities. The map was, insanely enough, for their hotel… floor? The room, if it could even be called it, stretched the entire floor, and included several rooms, three separate bathrooms, and a view over New York that would make almost any CEO jealous.

“Ok, you have to explain yourself. Did you join the mafia in London or something?”

Annabeth laughed darkly.

“No, nothing that cool. It’s actually a little embarrassing. When… when we broke up, my mother freaked out. She had obviously been rooting for us to break up the entire time, so when she found out… She-”

Annabeth stopped herself and stared at Piper.

“This can’t leave this room, you understand? I won’t make you swear, but you can’t let anyone know, because it could get Athena in a lot of trouble.”

Piper nodded, wondering what was so secretive about it all.

“She broke the rules. Or, stretched them. She had influenced a businessman to invest in the stock market around when Percy and I started showing signs that we liked each other. She’s the goddess of wisdom, so it doesn’t take a whole lot to figure out that she knew what she was doing. He ended up making a lot of money, and then he died of congenital heart failure. That was an accident, and almost ruined her plans, but she managed to remotely control the account from quarantine, and gave me access. She had the whole legal side figured out, something to do with inheritance and a partially forged will, but the money is all legally mine.”

“That’s… a lot. How much money was it?”

“A lot.”

“Like, a few hundred grand, or like…”

“A few hundred million.”

Piper exhaled.

“Fuck.”

“Oh yeah.”

“So, why even work then? Why not just live the rest of your life in luxury?”

“That’s not what I want to do. I’ve donated most of the money to trustworthy agencies, and kept a safe amount for myself, and some for Percy. He was half of the reason the account was created after all.”

“You left some money for him?”

“Yeah, I paid for his mother’s new apartment, Paul got a new car… I left Estelle enough for several trips through college… I had someone clean Percy’s record, that one was more than a little shady. I was going to tell him when we went to visit camp.”

“You do want to go back to camp?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely. I know it’s been a while, but that place will always be close to me. I just haven’t had the time. Chiron thought I was mad at him or something when I didn’t go back last year, but I sent him enough fancy teas to settle him down.”

Piper remembered seeing the elderly centaur sitting down for tea a lot more often with random campers. She herself had gone to one, and had found the tea was excellent, although she had mostly just attributed it to thousands of years of experience brewing tea than anything else.

The rest of the night sailed by. They took their time in exploring the suite, calling out to each other when they found something particularly interesting. Piper found a room with a massive mirror in the ceiling, obviously for voyeuristic couples. She steered clear of touching the bed. Annabeth found a water feature that glimmered and sparkled, which upon closer inspection, was partially encrusted with small stones that Piper assumed to be diamonds. The pure essence of wealth permeated the suite, making her feel more than a little out of place.

As Piper settled into bed, she stared up at the ceiling, wondering what her mother was doing. She was probably bored to tears from being cooped up for so long. She wondered if she had anything to do with the odd crush she had noticed between two of her friends. Maybe it was something to look forward to, and by the time they visited camp, she’d find they had already settled things, give the whole thing a try. Or maybe she had been wrong. It wasn’t her problem, and she turned her thoughts instead to thoughts of what she and Annabeth would do in the morning. She had always wanted to visit Coney Island, after all.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, she and Annabeth called for room service. They were served a heaping amount of french crepes, with sweet fruit fillings and plenty of whipped cream. Piper could see herself getting used to a lifestyle like this, but she knew it wasn’t practical. She also felt guilty, eating in exces while looking out over a city with so many homeless and families struggling to get by.  
The thought soured the food in her mouth, and she set her fork down. Annabeth nudged her from across the table, and gave her a concerned look.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just- We did so much… we gave up so much to save the world and it’s… so unfair. There are people who are skipping meals, struggling to pay bills, and there are places like this hotel that do this.”  
She gestured around them.

“I know it’s a dumb thought, but I just can’t help but think…. Was it all worth it? Is this a place worth saving? There is so much injustice in the world, and it’s like nothing is being done. It sucks. I can’t even explain it right, I’m so frustrated by it.”

Annabeth nodded.

“I know how you feel. I thought maybe I could splurge on this trip, give the rich lifestyle a try, now that I can afford it, but… it does feel gross. Thinking about how many people would kill to be here. How this room alone could shelter a good amount of people who would kill to have a safe place to call their own… I don’t think I’m doing something like this again. I tried to justify it to myself by thinking about all of the money I donated, but it doesn’t excuse this all. It’s all just excess. I can’t even think of how it would all be fixed either, which is frustrating.”

They stared out over the New York skyline and Piper sighed. She turned back to her food.

“I can’t let it go to waste though, that would be even worse.”

“Maybe… Instead of going to Coney Island, we could do something else?” Annabeth suggested.

“What did you have in mind?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piper manipulated the mist around her, making it so people noticed her even less than would normally. She worked her way through the morning foot traffic of New York, and walked up to the nearest person she found who could use help. The man had settled into a stack of cardboard boxes, and held up a small sign, propping it up with one hand while he stroked the neck of a small dog who sat beside him. The dog had a small bowl of kibble, dangerously empty, and he joined the man in staring up at the strangers as they did their best to ignore the duo.

Piper reached in her pocket and felt the small stack of bills. She pulled them out, and counted out a few hundred. She walked up to the man, and pulled the mist tight around herself, so he didn’t even notice as she placed the lump into the palm of his hand. She backed away, getting a few steps away before he looked down, staring at the wad of cash he now held. He looked around, and she turned away, so he would suspect her. She walked away, making sure that the mist gave her the leeway she needed to work through the crowds.

On the other side of the street, she could see Annabeth doing the same thing to an elderly couple who sat on their stoop, their head in their hands. She didn’t know why Annabeth had chosen the couple, but she didn’t question it. Everybody had their reasons for needing a little help.

She repeated the process a few more times, her heart aching at the sight of all of the people she didn’t have the bills to help. She hoped the money would be put to good use, it was all she could hope for in the end. She and Annabeth met up, and sat at a small bench at a park, watching people walk past.

“Do you think we helped anyone?” Piper asked, her voice quiet.

“I hope so. I know they say you're not supposed to give money to homeless people so they don’t use it on drugs, but it’s the best we can do right now.”

Piper sighed. She was proud of what she and Annabeth had done, but it still felt like a hollow victory. 

“We could still head to Coney Island,” Annabeth said. “We can get more money and do it again later in the evening?”

Piper thought about it, and nodded. It did still feel… icky. It felt like they were justifying themselves. But what were they really supposed to do, when it was all said and done? They didn’t have the ability to permanently help any of the people they had helped today without abandoning all of the other people who didn’t get a chance to be helped. Annabeth still had a lot of money left, but not enough to shelter every homeless person in New York.

Annabeth signaled a taxi, and they climbed in. The interior was shoddy looking, and the black haired driver kept his eyes on the road as they told him their destination. As the car pulled into the road, a dark shape zipped past them, rocking the car.

“Woah!” the driver said, correcting them back into their lane.

“What was that? Piper asked, looking through the back window. She couldn’t see anything, and she sat back in her seat.

“Probably some biker. Idiots think they own the road,” The man grumbled, as he drove them to their location. He had a slight accent to his voice, familiar, but not immediately recognizable. Like something she had heard on tv, or something.

“So… either of you ever been to summer camp, my wain is thinking of going and I haven’t the foggiest idea of where to send ‘im.”

Before she knew it, Annabeth was moving, whipping out a dagger from somewhere Piper couldn’t see and had it pressed against the driver’s throat.

“You.” 

The driver laughed weakly and pulled over. He held his hands up in mock surrender, and kept his head still.

“Okay, this ain’t that strange. I just happen to work for a taxi service and that driving service. It’s a living, you know.”

“You keep throwing not so subtle hints about camp. The strawberry field, homel, and now your child’s summer camp. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Okay, fine. Yes! But please, you have to understand, I didn’t- It’s not- I’m not trying to do anything bad, it’s what I had to do.”

“Do what?” Piper asked.

“Oh no, please don’t make me- your mothe-”

“Tell us.” Piper said, more forcefully, putting her strength behind the words.

The man strained her neck, still not looking at them.

“Turn towards us.”

Try as he might, he slowly turned towards them, and Piper immediately knew why he didn’t let them see his face before.

Percy. Or, how she imagined Percy would look in the future. The man sitting in front of her was older, maybe in his late twenties, or early thirties. But all of the features were there. The handsome face, the green eyes, jet black hair.

“Poseidon?” Piper asked.

“Close, but no cigar, my love.”

“Neptune.” Annabeth corrected. 

“Bongo.”

“It’s bingo.”

“Never did get mortal slang,” He said, shurgging. Annabeth had retracted the dagger from his neck, now that she knew he was a god.

“What are you doing here?” Piper asked, not using her charmspeak. If he was uncooperative, she might use it, but she didn’t want to anger the god any further.

“I’m supposed to bring you two back to camp. It’s important.”

“And you couldn’t tell us this directly?”

“No! The rules say- Well, the rules are all well and good until they aren’t. This was Athena’s plan anyway, if you want to blame someone, blame her!”

“Why do we need to go back to camp?”

“It’s Cupid. Or his other form, who shall not be named. We think he may be back, and he’s targeting my half son.”

“Percy?”

“Yes, there were some manipulations we found around him and-”

“Wait!” Piper said.

“What?” Annabeth and Neptune stared at her.

“Um, Annabeth doesn’t know yet, so could you not…”

“Piper, it’s fine. I can handle it. What’s happening?”

Neptune adjusted the collar on his shirt and continued on.

“Percy and Jason are falling in love, and Cupid may have something to do with it. But, we think that it’s a distraction, and his real plan is something else. We don’t know everything yet, which is why we want you two back at the camp, so you can work with everyone and come up with a plan.”

Piper watched for Annabeth’s reaction. The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Of course this happens the one time I come back here. Okay, fine. Drive us back. But this is it. No more fucking quests after this.”

It was a smaller reaction than Piper had thought she would have.

“What?” Annabeth said, as she caught her staring.

“Nothing, it’s just.. I thought you might have a bigger reaction to finding out your ex is currently crushing on my ex.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Oh please, if there was anyone, I guess this makes sense. I always did get the feeling he had a crush on Luke. I guess he has a thing for blondes.”

Piper laughed, and the car pulled away from the curb. She glanced at the clock. By the time they got to camp, it would already be dark. So much for Coney Island, and their plans for the evening.

“I guess we’ll have to take a rain check on Coney Island.” Annabeth said, reading her mind.

“I guess,” She agreed. She just didn’t know if there was going to be a Coney Island if this was really as bad as she had a feeling it might be.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You had a think tank, didn’t you.” Annabeth said, as she stared down Malcolm who was resting his double black eyes and bandaged arm in the bed. They had arrived at Camp a few minutes ago, and Piper found herself slightly weirded out as Neptune joined them. He was clearly not obeying the unspoken rules, but it did feel reassuring to have a god on their side.

“I thought- you’re not supposed to be here!” Malcolm said in disbelief. 

“When you recover, I’m going to give you another set of black eyes. What did I say!? I said no more think tanks! You guys can’t handle it.”

The other Athena cabin members shrunk into their beds, trying their best to avoid Annabeth’s wrath. She turned to face them

“I’m giving you all black eyes! This is why I said no more stupid think tanks!”

“Annabeth, come on, we need to do something about this.” Piper said. Will and Nico had filled them in on what had been going on, and if Nico was right, they needed to get to Percy before he could do something he would regret.

The group walked out of the Big House. Nico paced around the grass, thinking to himself.

“I may have a way to get there as soon as possible. But it’s a one time thing. We need to be sure we’re all ready.” He said, and Piper noticed how much he had grown since she had last seen him. He had filled out some, and finally had a decent haircut. He looked less like an edgy teenager, and more like… well, a slightly older edgy teenager.

“Is this it then?” He asked.

The group of five looked at each other. Four demigods and a Roman God stood around in a circle, and slowly, they all nodded.

“Athena and Aphrodite are doing damage control up on Olympus, making sure no one notices me missing, or anything going on down here. We’re good on that front.”

"And you? You're good with just going with us?"

"If the world is about to end, the rules didn't really do any good, right?"

It was a smart response, and suddenly Piper felt like she understood where Percy got his disregard for basically any rules. 

“Okay then, if this is it, then let’s get going.” With that said, Nico pulled out a small dark bead out of his pocket, and smashed it against the ground. A plume of smoke spilled out of the spot it landed and enveloped them.

“Nico!” Will shouted.

“Don’t worry, it’s not mine!” Nico shouted as the ground dropped beneath them and they fell into the inky blackness.

Before she knew it, the ground was beneath her again, the rough pavement of New York. As she got her bearings, Piper stifled a gasp. In front of them was the very hotel she and Annabeth currently had a massive suite. Up top, lights danced and flared on the penthouse suite. The five of them looked at each other, and quietly nodded. Together, they made their way into the lobby, which was devoid of all human life, and began their ascent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The massive twist makes it's way closer and closer with every chapter...


	15. The Dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Jason learn about variables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the raunchiest chapter I have ever written. Enjoy.

When Percy woke up, he had the distinct feeling that the day was going to be one for the history books. A mix of dread and excitement swirled in his stomach and he held a hand to his bare chest to calm himself down. As his hand met skin, he jerked it away, confused for a moment. He normally wore a top when he went to bed, but the night before came rushing back to him all at once.

He and Jason had spent the night before in each other's company, and he remembered everything they did. They had stopped before things got too far, but the fact remained that he was a lot more intimately aware of the man who he noticed sleeping beside him.

Jason laid next to him, still sound asleep. His hair was falling into his face slightly, and Percy brushed it back, careful not to disturb him. He checked the time on his phone. It was still early. That meant that Jason could sleep a little more if he wanted to. Percy, on the other hand, had some things to do.

If they were going to leave, it needed to be soon, and it needed to be fast. There was no way Chiron was going to be cool with them leaving on their own, and he would no doubt employ the Hunters to keep them contained. Thalia might be willing to help them, considering it was about avenging Nico, but then there was Reyna, who seemed to be able to manage the fiery teen. He couldn’t take any chances. Percy extracted himself from Jason’s arm, and started packing.

He didn’t expect to be gone long, with luck it would only take a day or two at most, so he skipped packing clothes and instead focused on food, and medical supplies. His room had a small med kit in it, complete with little packets of ambrosia and a small vial of nectar. He packed some of the snacks he had been living off of when Piper had been bringing him his food. Packs of chips and protein bars were stored away in small staches around the cabin, and Percy mentally thanked Jason for helping him to stop living like a pack rat.

He was rummaging through his drawers, collecting some loose dollar bill he had stored when Jason roused himself awake. With the sun starting to trickle in through the cabin windows, Jason’s body was bathed in golden sunlight, highlighting his impressive figure. 

“Morning,” Percy called out to him. He placed a heavy bag next to him on the bed, and sat next to it, he gazed down at Jason, who was still trying to wake up fully.

“Morning. What are you doing?” Jason said with a yawn, stretching his arms in the cramped space.

“Packing up some supplies. I was thinking that we should leave soon, make sure we aren’t attracting any unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

Jason furrowed his brow.

“What? Why are we sneaking out of here? Aren’t you going to tell Chiron that we’re leaving?”

Percy shook his head.

“There’s no way that he’s going to let us go. I’m not sure if you remember, but this isn’t exactly a sanctioned mission. We aren’t going on some quest or anything. We’re going to kill.”

Jason sat up, and the bed creaked its protest against the pressure.

“Percy, I know what I agreed to, but we do need to think about this. We’re going up against a god. More than a god, even. We need to think this through. We could use some backup.”

“Jason, we don’t even have a quest. I really do love the guy, but Chiron is kind of a stickler for the rules. He sticks to quests, he honors them. If he doesn’t think we have a reason to go after Eros, then he won’t let us. He might try to get Thalia and the Hunters to stop us. I don’t know if I want to chance it.”

Jason ran his fingers through his hair, massaging his temples as he went. He was clearly undecided about the whole thing, which Percy could understand. What they were about to set off for was unlike anything they had done before. No quest, no rules, no idea what they were walking into. When they went, it was going to be up to them, and them alone to make it through the next few days.

Jason nodded his agreement.

“Okay, I guess. Let me get ready, and then we can leave. But… How are we supposed to get to New York without the van?”

Percy chuckled slightly and bent down to reach where his pants had been tossed the night before. He rummaged through his pockets, trying to find his keys when he stopped. They weren’t there. Instead, he pulled out a piece of folded paper from his front pocket. Jason put his glasses on and got closer to see what was wrong.

Percy unfolded the paper and cursed the universe and it’s hatred of him. For once in his life, wasn’t he due one break?

BE GLAD IT WAS ME WHO TOOK YOUR KEYS. THALIA ALREADY WANTS YOU MAIMED, SHE’D KILL YOU IF SHE SAW YOU TANGLED UP WITH HER LITTLE BROTHER. CHIRON WANTS YOU TO STAY HERE. I AGREE. DON’T DO ANYTHING RECKLESS.  
\--REYNA

Percy couldn’t decide if he wanted to blush from the idea of someone seeing the aftermath of the night before, or to scream from the frustration of being outplayed. He settled for a mix between the two, venting his fury by shouting into his pillow. Jason placed a placating hand on his back, but Percy could tell that the other boy was slightly glad. While he had gone along with the idea, Jason wasn’t the time of person to get off on revenge. Percy was. He was angry at the notion that his chance for retribution was gone, taken away from him by people who didn’t know what he was capable of. 

They had taken his keys because they didn’t believe in him, didn’t think he would go through with it. Well, he was going to prove them wrong. He wasn’t sure how, but his mind was aflutter with different plans already. Hotwiring his car? Risky, and he had no clue where to even start with stuff like that. Stealing his keys back? If Reyna had them, that was also a non starter. He couldn’t get back at Eros with his throat ripped out by a golden dog, could he?

“Look, Percy, I know this isn’t ideal, but…”

Percy was waiting for him to say it. Jason was going to try to talk him down, suggest something else they could do instead of charging to New York.

“But there has to be another way, right? We can’t give up now.”

Percy stared at him. 

“Jason, are you sure? If you want, this could be your way out. I know you aren’t completely okay with the idea of-”

“Don’t assume you know everything about me just because we’ve made out and stuff. I want this too. Nico was my friend too, and I want to avenge him just as much as you do.”

It was unexpected of Jason to say something like that, Percy had found himself in the bad habit of assuming the other boy was like the “Golden Boy” moniker that other people so casually assigned to him, but he was continually being surprised. Percy got closer to Jason, placed a hand on his side.

“Really?” He asked, as he continued to pull closer. It was like a magnet, pulling him and Jason together.

“Really.” Jason said, their foreheads almost touching. He pressed a chaste kiss against Percy’s lips but Percy didn’t let it end there.

“So what are we going to do? If we don’t have a car anymore?” He whispered, looping his arms around Jason’s neck. 

“I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking of a few things we could do while we think of a plan…”

Percy was keenly aware of how little clothing they were wearing, and it was becoming harder and harder to resist the pull he felt towards the other boy. For the first time, Jason was the one to take charge, and he felt himself being tipped back towards the bed. Jason pressed on top of him, and the feeling of skin on skin as their chests collided sent a new sensation down Percy’s spine. Jason’s hands pressed his arms above his head, leaving him helpless to stop the onslaught of kisses Jason placed on his lips, and his neck. Slowly, one of Jason’s hands slid their way down his arm, past his face, and across his torso as it made its way south. A single finger brushed against the waistband of his underwear, hooking its way inside.

Before it could go any further, the door banged open. A flurry of limps and yelps erupted as the two boys tried to get up, away from each other, and hide themselves beneath the thin blankets.  
“What the fuck!” Percy yelled, trying to see who had barged into the cabin.

A figure stood in the doorway, surrounded by a heavy curtain of green fog, and Percy knew his wish had come true, just in one of the ways he had least expected. Rachel Elizabeth Dare stood in their cabin, although it was probably more accurate to say the Oracle was there, considering the glowing gas and slight scent of decay.

“Percy Jackson! Jason Grace! Prepare to- Oh, gods, what were you two doing? Gross!” The Oracle shaded her eyes from the sight of the bewildered, half naked demigods who were doing a terrible job of covering up. The door shut behind her, and Percy hoped no one knew what was going on.

Percy hadn’t expected the...personality from the old spirit. Or the fact that she was lightly prudish. He would have thought that in her old age, she would have seen far worse. 

“Uh… Get ready! If you two are serious about meeting Eros, then you must come with me. Quickly! And lock the door next time!”

Percy got out of bed, confused as to what exactly was going on. Normally, Rachel only stayed in her spirit mode just to deliver a prophecy and then she was back to normal. The spirit of Deplhi was usually curt and to the point. Also, the door didn’t lock. He wasn’t sure if that would have made a difference to the spirit, but he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

He and Jason shared equally bewildered looks as they changed into their clothes, and the Oracle looked straight into the ground. When they were done, they walked over to where she was, and Percy cleared his throat.

“Finally! Come with me, we must hurry.”

“Where are we going?”

The Oracle scoffed. 

“New York, or course! Where else?”

“But we don’t have a car.”

“But my host does!” She said, pulling them out of the cabin and towards the camp entrance. The few people who were awake already stared at them, and someone ran towards the Big House, no doubt alerting Chiron to the rogue Oracle, and the two former camp leads.

They hurried to the parking lot, eventually Jason and Percy were the ones pulling the Oracle along. Rachel’s body wasn’t unfit, but she didn’t have the years of training that they did. The car came into view, Rachel’s cherry red convertible was haphazardly parked in the middle of the lot. Clearly, the Oracle didn’t have the driving experience.

There was just one problem. Thalia Grace stood next to the car, a long dagger in her hand. As she saw them approach, she feigned surprise, then looked at the dagger in her hand, and then back to the car. Percy saw that each of the car’s tires had a clean slice through the thick rubber, and it was resting on the rims. The group stopped before they got any closer to the daughter of Zeus, and Jason placed a protective hand across Percy to keep Thalia from trying anything with lightning. The road was to their right, and Percy hated the fact that they had gotten so close only to be shut down again.  
“Now what?” He asked the spirit.

“Shit. I really liked that car.” For a moment, Percy could hear something in the Oracle’s voice that sounded distinctly like Rachel. He wondered what exactly was going on in that shared body. 

“It doesn’t matter.” She said, pulling her arm out of Percy’s grasp. She put her hands to her mouth, and whistled as loud as she could, so loud that it hurt Percy’s ears, and he was from New York.

Nothing happened. Thalia strode over to them.

“Don’t even think about trying anything!” she called. “Chiron already told us to keep you here, and a Hunter never goes back on her word.”

The Oracle was focused on the road, her gaze towards a bend down the road that led behind a hill. She was clearly waiting on something, and Percy thought he had an idea of what. But they needed a little bit more time. He needed to keep Thalia talking.

“I told you.” Percy whispered to Jason.

“I didn’t doubt you.”

“Jason, why don’t you step away from Seaweed Brain, so I can show him how glad I am to see him!”

“No can do, Thalia. You don’t have any say in who I date.”

Percy knew there were definitely bigger things to worry about, but a small smile crept onto his face as he heard Jason’s retort. Date. It was still something to get used to, but he found that he didn’t mind it.

“Gross,” Thalia said, and for a second Percy was disappointed in her. She was really going to be one of those people? She must have read something on their faces, because she shook her head.

“Not the guy thing, the fact that out of all the guys in the world, you chose Percy? Come on! You could do better by just wandering into a gay bar and picking the first person you see. I mean, Percy? Really?”

“That’s enough, Thalia. Just because you guys don’t get along all the time doesn’t mean you have to be rude about it.”

The heavy noise of an engine was getting closer, Percy realized, and he saw the Oracle grab Jason’s hand, and then his own.

“Be ready to run,” She whispered.

“Why won’t you let us leave?” Percy asked Thalia. He really did want to know the answer, but he also needed to stall. A tension built up in his gut.

“Why? Because it’s a fucking suicide mission. Do you really think the three of you stand a chance against Eros? I talked to Chiron about it, he won’t even say his name, he’s that scared. What are you two even expecting? I get that you’re angry, I want to avenge Nico too, but this isn’t the way. Do you think Annabeth would be on board for this?”

It was a low blow meant for Percy, but it was one he was expecting. It was also one that was about one and a half years too late. If Thalia thought that it was going to get to him, she had another thing coming.

“Annabeth and I are two separate people. Just because she wouldn’t do something doesn’t mean that I won’t. Thalia, I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”

“Bullshit. You want to do this, you don’t have to. And, in case you haven’t noticed, you aren’t going anywhere. So why don’t we all just go back to camp so I can beat some sense into both of you?”

The ashen black taxi chose that moment to screech to a halt on the road beside them. Percy took the opportunity to fling several balls of water at Thalia, silently apologizing to the nearby nymphs for the patches of dead grass he left behind.

“Oh, you bitch!” Thalia yelled as they climbed into the Grey Sister’s Taxi.

“Sorry Thalia, I’ll let you fight me when we get back!” He called out as the car peeled away from the curb, leaving the soaked daughter of Zeus in the dust.

Inside the car, it was chaos as usual as the three sisters fought over the single eye they shared. He decided to put his faith in them as they hadn’t failed him before, and took the opportunity to face the Oracle, who opened a window so the mist she spewed had somewhere to go.

“What the fuck is happening?” He asked her. She had the nerve to look affronted.

“The end of days, child. I thought you were aware. I seem to recall the two of you were supposed to visit that meeting last night? You should know a little bit of what is occurring.”

“What are you talking about, a change in eras or something?” Jason asked.

“Some would call it that, yes. Others would call it by its true name. A Shift. As we speak, Eros is making the final arrangements towards positioning himself in the best possible spot to take over the next era. We can not allow that to happen.”

“Okay, that I get, but what exactly are you? What happened to Rachel?” Percy asked.

“The girl is fine, I simply asked for an extended visit, and she agreed. I figured the stakes were too high to leave to her, and I decided to pay the two of you a visit. I only wished that I foresaw the fact that the two of you would be seconds from copulating. I’m just glad I’m not in the timeline where I come in a few minutes later.”

“What do you mean, that timeline. Are there other timelines?” Percy said, fighting the blush at his cheeks.

“Of course there are, and trust me, when I looked into it, there were plenty of timelines where the two of you were mid-intercourse when I walked in, so count your blessings that it was not this reality.”

“Fucking hell.” Jason said, looking away from the Oracle.

“Actually, you were fucking Per-”

“No!” Percy yelled, covering her mouth so she couldn’t say the rest. She pulled his hands away dramatically and huffed.

“No need to be so childish, I was only going to say that he fucked y-”

“Stop it!”

“There are plenty of timelines where you fuck hi-”

“Enough!”

“Fine. Be that way.” The Oracle said, and Percy could see she enjoyed tormenting him. He chanced a look at Jason and saw that he was also flustered. Their eyes met for a moment before they looked away. Had they really been about to take a step like that if the Oracle hadn’t walked in?

“Why… Why are you helping us?” Jason said, finally speaking up.

“Well, I’ve run some metaphorical numbers, and the two of you have the best chance of preventing the end. There are, or course, an incredible amount of versions where the two of you die, usually quite painfully. Maybe one of you dies, the other can’t go on, that sort of thing. There’s even a version where the two of you die in this car, funnily enough, but I don’t think that it’s very likely. If it was, it would be in the next few seconds.”

They all fell silent, slowly counting by the seconds as the car rocked back and forth as the sister’s weaved their way through the road. Traffic was beginning to pick up, which meant they were closed to the city.

“Okay, it seems like that has passed. Good to know. Anyways, regardless of the many versions where the two of you will fail, there are attempts where you succeed, and that is what is really important.”  
“So what, you can see what might happen, but not exactly?”

“If I was describing my abilities to a toddler I might describe it that way, yes.”

Percy rolled his eyes.

“Why can’t you just make us follow the best path? Can’t you like… nudge us towards that direction.”

“Fate is not so easily determined, child,” She said, “Life is infinitely complicated, and there are countless ways our paths can play out. I can only see the most likely paths, and direct the chosen to their destinies. If I wanted, I can see all of the variables in any situation I desire, if I think it may help from a prophecy, or guide a lost soul.”

“Destiny? But you just said that out fates aren’t absolute. And, you said that our fates can be different in different timelines. What’s destiny then?”

“Destiny is the ultimate fate you achieve in any given variable, it’s really not that hard. Your destiny in this version may be to defeat Eros and save the world, it might be to be killed by a falling AC unit on your way there. I guide those who ask to their destiny in that version of themselves.”

“So you're saying, there’s different versions of myself?”

“Yes, please keep up. Not only are there versions of you who are close to what you are now, so an example would be a you who’s dominate in their left hand, instead of their right, but in exactly the same position as you are now, or a you who had a pizza instead of a bagel for lunch two weeks ago, but everything else is the same, there are also wildly different versions of yourself.”

“Could you give an example?”

“My talent is not a parlor trick, Percy, but if I must…” The mist around her started glowing faintly as she focused, and Percy held his breath, anticipating the answer.

“Your mother’s name is Sarah. That is one possible timeline.”

“That’s it?”

“There are other’s, but I don’t feel like divulging those yet. I could tell you all of the positions I might have walked in on you and Jason in, if you want me to. There was dogg-”

“For the love of- Could you not!”

“I could.” A beat passed. “But I won’t. Missionary, the Flatiron, the Pretzel, the Ballet Dancer, the-”

The car skidded to a halt, and the doors sprang open. Percy realized that they had reached their stopping point, wherever that was. As he climbed out of the car, desperate to be away from the perverted Oracle, he couldn’t see the high rise Will had described. What he did see was his apartment building for some reason. 

“Why are we here?,” He asked, helping Jason out of the car. He didn’t offer to help the Oracle out, but she didn’t move to leave anyways.

“Destiny doesn’t always work the way we think it will. You forgot something in your apartment that you are going to need. Get it quickly, and then head to this address.” She handed him a small card with something written on it.

“Why can’t you just take us there?” He said, but she pulled him down and whispered in his ear.

“I see the pathway and it is not pleasant. No matter what, you must protect the box. Regardless of what happens, you can not do what I have seen you do. For the sake of the world, you must prepare to make the ultimate sacrifice.” She closed the door and the car roared away, taking her gods knows where.

“What did she say?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know. Some kind of warning?”

He shrugged and walked up to the front panel, buzzing his apartment.

“I hope Alex is here, he might be a swim practice.”

“Alex?”

“Yeah, he’s my roommate. We used to be on the same swim team last season.”

The speaker crackled.

“Who is it?” A voice on the other side asked.

“It’s Percy, I forgot something, and I forgot my key, can you buzz us up?”

“Us?”

“I have a friend with me.” He felt bad about not mentioning the dating thing, it didn’t seem fair to Jason, who had mentioned it to his sister. “Uhh… we’re dating actually.”

“So… a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Oh… Well, Ok. Give me a second.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

The door to the entrance buzzed, and Percy led Jason upstairs. 

“That was awkward.” Jason said, but he had a smile on his face.

“Sorry, I know I should have started with that, I’m not sure why I said the friend thing. We’re more than that, I just never really considered how I thought people might react. I don’t know who is accepting and who isn’t.”

“It’s fine, it’s just funny watching you so flustered.”

“Shut up.”

They made it to the door to the apartment and Percy knocked on the door. Alex opened the door, and Percy gave him a small greeting. 

Alex was nineteen years old, and attending a community college nearby. He had joined the swim team because his school didn’t have the funds for one. He was on the lanky side, and had light brown hair that was cut short, in a similar style to when Jason and Percy had first met. He had a nice build to him though, and Percy had seen a plethora of girls cycle in and out of their apartment as Alex made his way through flings.

“What did you forget?” Alex asked, as he made his way towards the kitchenette.

“A souvenir,” Percy said, making his way into one of the rooms to the side. Jason waved hello to Alex and followed Percy, closing the door behind them so they could talk.

“What are you looking for?,” He asked.

“I have no idea. I think it might be....” Percy rummaged through his closet, throwing clothes to the side. 

“Aha!” He said, pulling out a small object bound in cloth. As Percy unwound the object, Jason could see that it was actually a small bundle of pearls, which shined brightly in the light.

“After the battle with Gaea, my dad gave me these. They take whoever uses them to the sea. I actually used some of these on my first quest. It’s how I escaped the Underworld.”

“And we need those why?”

“I have no idea. Maybe a quick escape route?”

“I guess, but we needed to come all the way here just for that? I could have just flown us out of the building if it’s high up.”

“I guess we’ll know when to use them when we get there. We should probably head over there now.”

They exited the door, and found Alex still in the kitchenette. He had a pitcher of lemonade in one hand, and gestured to them to sit.

“Leaving already?” He asked.

“Yeah, found what I was looking for, so we need to head out.”

“Want a drink before you go? I went down to the bodega this morning and bought some fresh lemons.”

Percy turned to Jason, silently asking if he wanted some, and Jason shrugged.

“Sure.” Percy said, taking a seat.

The lemonade was refreshing, although Percy had never been a massive fan of the drink. It was sweet enough to balance out the natural bitterness of the lemon, but still made his mouth pucker up after too big of a sip.

“Wow.” Percy said, “This is really good.” Beside him, he could see that Jason liked it as well.

The room darkened, and Percy looked up at the light to see it dim in and out. No, that wasn’t right. The light wasn’t dimming. He swayed to the side.

“Hey… what’s going on here?” He asked, or at least, tried to ask. Instead what came out was something halfway between a gurgle and a laugh.

Jason tried to stand up but fell out of his chair. His glass was knocked to the ground by his flailing arms, and landed with a thud beside him. As his vision dimmed in and out, Percy focused on the blurry spot in front of him. Alex stood there, unflinching in the wake of two people disoriented in front of him. Alex walked around the table and towered above him. Percy couldn’t tell if it was his vision blurring or not, but a hideous grin was plastered on Alex’s face as he watched the two of them writhe. 

Percy tried to stand up, get away from the man, but Alex held him in place. He said something, but it was nonsense to Percy. Percy could feel himself being lifted up and out of the chair, and into the living area. He was placed in a hard dhair, a wooden one, which wasn’t something they had in the apartment. 

Alex’s blurry figure left his side, and soon returned with Jason in tow. He was placed in a chair next to Percy. As the lights went out, the last thing Percy heard was a low growl.

“Time for the preparations.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's the Ballet Dancer?


	16. The Swimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has a meeting with the Oracle and Percy does something bad.

“I see we’re going down an… unfortunate path.”

The voice roused Jason awake. He opened his eyes, and then closed them again, shielding his face from the searing light that seemed to burn straight through his eyelids. Gradually, the strength faded, and he was able to creep his eyes open a little at a time, finally able to see the lone figure painted against an endless expanse of white.

“Sorry about the light, it’s a side effect of the process.”

Rachel’s voice, normally pleasant to the ear, was like nails on a chalkboard to him suddenly. He groaned a little bit and tried to cover his ears.

“Heightened senses as well, sorry.”

The hands over his ears did nothing to dull the ear splitting noise. It felt like forever before he could hear normally again, and as he waited, Jason stared out at the abyss around him.

“What is this?,” He asked, when he was somewhat sure that the hearing issue had died down.

“A dream message. Pay attention, because we don’t have long before you wake up back in that mess of a situation you two seem to have gotten caught up in. Honestly, I leave you alone for a minute and you go and get yourselves captured.”

“It’s not like we knew he was up to something. And- Hey, shouldn’t you have done something? You had to have seen that this was going to happen!”

“I told you that is not my gift. I don’t see the future, I guide those to their destiny. I provide the necessary information and actions for each universe to meet its ultimate end state. At best, I only get brief glimpses at the other worlds, and even then, I can’t interact with them, only use the information to guide this plane. I knew you needed the pearls, I didn’t get any more information than that. It must have been fate, no matter how… disappointing it may be.”

“Well that sucks.”

“Don’t forget your manners, boy. I am still guiding you two on your journey even now. That’s the entire reason why I am here actually. It seems I may have forgotten to tell you something in the car ride over. I seem to have gotten distracted by someone’s crass mouth.”

“You started it! Don’t put the blame on us!”

“It matters not. The only thing that matters now is that you listen closely, because the time we have is short. No more interruptions, understand? My will is fragile and it is the only thing holding this message together. If I have to spend any more energy dealing with your nonsense, the whole thing could collapse and you’ll miss the information. Nod if you understand.”

Jason nodded, feeling as if she were using the opportunity to avoid talking about how she had messed up earlier.

“Good, then I’ll begin. This journey you are on right now… it is a short one. Within the day, the shift will occur. You must go to the building and stop Eros from completing his ritual before the sun sets. If he is successful, he will bring about endless suffering to both gods and mortals in his quest for revenge. His shortsighted plans will cause the end of all life on earth within a century, effectively ending the sixth, and final age of the universe. After that… it will be chaos. The heat death of the universe, I believe they call it now. I trust you understand why this must not be allowed to happen?”

Jason nodded, a pit of despair growing in his stomach. Back when he had fought against the Titan Stronghold and toppled Kronos’s throne, even when he had fought against Gaea and her minions in the Quest of the Seven, they had happened over months, if not years. He had time to train and prepare for the stakes at hand. Here, he was being thrown into the deep end. It felt like an entirely different beast from the other quests he had been on.

“Though your journey will be short, it will be filled with some… regrets. I do not have to explain to you about the cruelty of the universe, but this day will be especially impactful. I wanted to give you some information to help you manage some of your feelings. It’s about constants. I already told you about the infinity of the timelines that occur simultaneously, but there was something I forgot to mention. Sometimes, events happen, and then they keep happening in other worlds as a result.I call it a constant because it is an event that almost always constantly occurs in each of the main realities at some point or another. Sometimes, the timing can be a little off, sometimes it can even take a year or two for something that is fated to occur to... “

She trailed off, looking at Jason with some vague emotion in her eyes.

“I want you to know that if something bad happens that you regret, or you feel like you could have changed… sometimes you can not. Sometimes, these things are out of our control, and we must move on, no matter how painful it can be. When the time comes, I want you to know this. If it can help you find peace in the end, it will have been worth it.”

‘Peace in the end?’ Whatever she was talking about sounded serious, like something really bad was going to happen. But, Jason noted to himself, she had also mentioned she couldn’t see the future. Maybe she had noticed something in other realities?

“There is yet more I must say, but it seems like our time is now up. But before I go, I must tell you something Jason. It is about Percy.”

Jason leaned in, desperate to hear what she was going to say. If it had something to do with the vague warning she had given, he needed to know.

“Do not let him near the box. I do not know what happens, but in my head I feel a deep blackness whenever I try to get more information. Alarms bells are sounding in every corner of the universe and it all has to do with that boy, and that damned box. When the time comes, you must-”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jason woke up. The stinging pain on the side of his face seemed to have something to do with it, and Jason belated realized that he had just been slapped. He blinked a few times to wake himself up fully, and moved to get up, only to find himself bound with duct tape in a complicated sort of cacoon. His hands and feet were wrapped in ways that made it impossible to move his fingers or move his feet in any meaningful way, and the rest of his body was covered in tape.His arms were hanging over his head, and the tape between his hands was caught on a hook attached to the ceiling. He felt like a pig ready for the slaughter on a meat hook.

His body was so tightly wrapped in tape, he felt like he would have been stuck in the same position anyways, even if he managed to get off the hook. As he trashed around in vain, he finally got a good look around the room.

Alexander was directly opposite from him, stretched out in an overly relaxed fashion on the couch. In his lap, Percy was limply laying, his head against Alex’s chest. A small circular object was fixed to his neck, the black dot against his tan skin. For a moment, Jason was worried Percy was still unconscious, but instead, it was worse.

Percy’s eyes were wide open, and darting around the room like a trapped animal, but for some reason, he didn’t move a single muscle.

“Ja-Jason,” he whispered, his voice incredibly hoarse. Jason’s stomach turned at the sound of Percy so broken. Alex brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen in Percy’s face, and then continued to stroke his head, as if he were some sort of lap dog.

“I told him not to talk, the pain he probably feels from just a single sound… but no, he has to go and be his stubborn self. Never could get him to give up, you know?”

Jason moved to speak, about to yell at the disgusting young man in front of him, but Alex suddenly put a single finger to his lips and shushed quietly. 

“Not too loud, the neighbors could hear. And if the neighbors hear… Let’s just say I’m more than fine with going to prison for two murders. It’s not like Lord Eros would keep me there once he’s enacted his plan and fixed everything.”

Jason had never felt hatred so pure before, and his head was filled with all of the ways he would extinguish the putrid life in front of him. He had never thought of himself as a killer, but the way Alex stroked Percy’s head, then wrapping his arms around Percy’s chest in a hug one might give something like a stuffed plush… He was ready to do something about it.

“What have you done to him?” Jason asked, in a voice about ten decibels too quiet for his own liking. He wanted to yell, to scream. He wanted to vent his frustration out some way, but in his set up, he had to settle for squeezing his tightly bound hands in the little space he could move them.

“Oh, nothing much. It’s just a little…” Alex moved a hand to Percy’s neck and fingered the small black dot. From the angle, Jason could see that it actually had a little dimension to it, not the flat sphere he thought it was. As Alex nudged the device, Percy’s eyes widened, and a shudder escaped his lips.

“Opps, sorry. It’s a bit painful when it gets messed with.” Alex said with a small laugh, going back to hugging Percy closer to himself. 

Percy’s eyes watered up and several small tears escaped his eyes, running a bit down his face before stopping. Then, something happened. Right after the tears stopped, Percy’s face changed. Suddenly, it was as if the pain from the device had washed away, replaced with a cold, calculating gaze that Jason was thankful Alex couldn’t see. Because if he could, he might have kept an eye out for what happened next. Percy’s finger twitched. Or at least, Jason thought it did. Maybe he had imagined it, but something was telling him otherwise.

The tears, Jason realized. The tears must have energized him, enough to get past whatever the small device was doing to his body. If such a small amount of water was enough to let him move a finger, Percy was going to need a lot more water if he wanted to move in any meaningful way.

“Do you like it?” Alex asked. His expression unnerved Jason, not because he looked crazy, or evil, but because he looked entirely sincere. There was no trace of malice on his face, and he looked like he was asking a genuine question to Jason.

“What the hell is it?” Jason asked. Maybe if they got more information on it, there could be some way to get past it. From what Jason could tell, Percy was the one who was in any position to make a move, if he could get past the thing literally stopping him from moving. Jason was bound too well to do anything.

“It was a present from Eros. Just a little something he cooked up back in the day. Apparently, the gods used to use them for some of their dirtier tricks. It works on both gods and mortals, completely inhibiting their ability to move below the place it’s placed at. These little guys used to be used for all sorts of things. Want your enemy to watch helplessly as you dissect their entire family in front of them? These little guys… they were used for some pretty dark shit back in the day. There are all sorts of tales about how people used them, each more horrifying than the last. Apparently, if you place it on the neck, it creates a horrible pain whenever you try to talk. Learned that from one of those stories.”

Fuck this, Jason thought. Fuck the Oracle for leading them into this mess, even if it wasn’t entirely her fault. 

“So what are you going to do with us? What are you doing here?”

He needed to keep Alex talking while he looked around the room. A fire alarm sprinkler sat tantalizing above the room, but Jason didn’t know how they could set it off. The kitchen was close by, and that had the sink. Maybe Percy could summon water from there? Or there was also the toilet somewhere down the dark hall that-

“I see what you’re doing and it’s not going to work. I know what my little friend here is capable of, and I may or may not have shut off the water to the building. Trust me, I’ve done my research about you two. I know what I’m doing.”

“To answer your question, you aren’t really a part of my plan. I don’t care about you, so I’ll probably just get rid of you so I can focus on Percy here. See, I have big plans for him. But in order to tell you about that, I need to tell you why. Why am I doing this? It started a little more than a year ago.”

“All of my life, I’ve been a little different. I’ve seen things that aren’t really there. Dogs the size of pickup trucks, women with reptilian skin, clouds in the shape of horses that thundered across the sky. My parent’s chalked it up to an overactive imagination at first. But, it didn’t stop when they wanted it to, it became inconvenient. They took me to every doctor in the city, got me on every medication possible. My grades plummeted from the pills, I lost all of my friends. I lived most of my life in a drug filled haze, while my parents argued over who had given me the gene for early onset schizophrenia. But I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

“I was a freshman in college, freshly graduated from my shit hole high school, and I was desperate for something to set me apart from the others. The world is getting so fucking competetive nowadays, I’ve always felt like I couldn’t compete. Not to mention my parents. They’ve been disappointed in me from the beginning. Right away, they told me it was ‘do something with my life or get the hell out of our place’. I’ve always been good at swimming, so I thought, what the hell? I tried out for a local team, and they just so happened to be just as desperate as I was. But guess what, desperation doesn’t make for a good team. We were shit. Absolute dog shit. We got our asses handed to us at every meet, the other team could be fucking quadruple amputees and they would probably still beat us blind. My parents were this close to throwing me out onto the streets when… he came.”

Alex glanced down at Percy, pure admiration in his eyes. 

“When he joined our team… it was like fucking magic. I thought I was good at swimming? He put us all to shame, and then some. He was perfect. Have you ever seen him swim? It’s perfect. I was entranced everytime we practiced. But that wasn’t it. I- we- we all got better. Just having him on our team… we started winning meets. All of a sudden, our reputation changed overnight. My parents were somewhat proud of me, there were scouts coming to our meets…” 

“And then he left.” Alex pushed a finger against the device and Percy groaned, his eyes tearing up again. 

“Fuck you for that Percy. Fuck you for leaving us right before one of the most important meets of the season. You got people to pay attention to us, and then you ditched us. As soon as you left, we went right back to being dog shit again. I was so confused, my parent’s ended up throwing me to the curb, and yet you had no clue. You let me room with you because you saw I was going through a tough time, but you had no idea you were the cause of it all. It was like a sick joke when you offered to let me stay here, I thought you were the cruelest person I had ever met.”

“But then, I- well, this is slightly embarrassing, but I fell into a bit of an internet hole. I tried to distract myself from my awful life by looking up urban legends and started signing up for message boards for people looking for them. That’s how this all started, anyway. I joined a message board, and I saw the video of a scream in New York that was so beautiful, yet haunted… Eros recruited us all that way. He knew that we were special, that we could see what was really going on. He taught us about the world as it actually was, not the way we were told it was. There, listening to his tales of gods and demigods, I realized. You were cheating. You had always been cheating. A son of Poseidon using his water powers to cheat his way to the top of the swimming world. You even chose our team because we were doing so bad, you would look like a savior on top of it all. That’s why you left, wasn’t it. The guilt must have gotten too much for you to handle, and you went and bailed on us, right as we needed you the most?”

“I’ve been thinking this for a while now. What I would do with you when Eros finally claimed his rightful place as ruler of the sixth era… I’m going to put some of those stories about those devices to the test. I’ll probably start with that first one in just a moment. I’ll just… lay you right here on the couch, and go to town on Jason with this cool little pen I found in your pocket…”

Percy’s eyes widened and he let a rasp escape his throat.

“Don’t- Don’t you dare-” He said, stopping to contort his face in pain. More tears streamed down his cheeks, and Jason saw multiple fingers twitch now.

“Alex, don’t you dare touch him, or I swear to all of the gods- Ahh!”

Alex traced a lazy circle around the device, and the pain must have been unbearable. Jason fought in his restaurants to move, do anything to help as Percy cried out in pain. 

“What are you going to do, Percy? Tell me, I honestly want to know.”

He didn’t stop toying with the circle, and Jason’s heart dropped as Percy stopped fighting and started crying for real. Deep, heavy sobs wrecked Percy as the pain kept coming, and Jason thrashed in his cocoon.

“Stop!” He yelled, not caring about the neighbors hearing anymore. He needed to get Alex to stop hurting Percy.

“Please, don’t make me.” Percy sobbed.

“Don’t make you what? You can’t do anything to me, you fucking moron!” Alex yelled, pushing Percy off of his, and Percy fell towards the ground.

He caught himself.

The room froze, no one quite sure how to react. Alex looked horrified, like he was seeing a demon in the flesh. Percy was unsteady on his feet, but with one of the most desperate war cries Jason had ever heard, he reached up for his neck, fingernails digging into the flesh around the device as he scrambled for a hold, and then yanking the black circle out. His face was shiny with tears, and Jason realized that Percy had torn his way free with his own tears. 

“Shit!” Alex cried, opening Riptide, holding it out in front of himself in an amateur grip. 

“Stay back!” He shouted, slashing out in front of him.

Percy didn’t move from his spot. He stretched out a bloody, trembling hand towards Alex and crushed a slow fist, as if he was squeezing something. For a few seconds nothing happened, but when it did, Jason wished it had stayed that way. When he saw what was happening, he called the Oracle every bad word he had ever heard, because what happened was something that should not have happened.  
Alex’s face turned blush red, then beet red. His muscles strained, and clenched wildly, and he dropped Riptide in a jerky motion. He struggled to get a breath out, and gurgled a little bit. Blood dripped from his nose, and a small trail leaked from his mouth. His eyes were wide open, and blood shot.

“I didn’t want to do this. I- I didn’t think I could do this. But it’s always been there, just under the surface. I get that now. The human body is made up of so much water, I guess this was just inevitable. I’m sorry about what happened to you, but-”

Percy finished clenching his fist, and Alex crumpled to the ground. Jason wasn’t sure what finally caused him to go down, but he didn’t want to know. He stared at the body on the ground, slack jawed, as Percy collapsed to his knees, heaving out heavy breaths. Another sob tore its way out from him, and he sat there, letting the emotion take him. And then, a small chuckle. A giggle really, but even the small sound was enough to break Jason out of his stupor and he turned his stare back at Percy. Had he really just-

Another chuckle, louder this time. Sobs slowly morphed into small fits of giggles, and that morphed into full on laughter. Percy sat on his knees a few feet away from the body of the person he had just killed with power he shouldn’t have possessed, and he laughed. With a shiver, Jason thought to himself that it was probably the happiest he had heard the other boy in a while.

Finally, the chilling laughter ended, and Percy seemed to come back to himself. He got up to his feet and retrieved Riptide from the floor. With a few sweeps of the bronze blade, Jason was free, and he rubbed his wrists to work the blood back into them. He shuddered at the thought. He wondered if this was one of those constants the Oracle had mentioned. Was this inevitable, or had he just screwed up majorly by allowing this to happen?

Without any words, the two of them picked their way through the apartment and collected their things from where Alex had strewn them when they had been unconscious. When they met back up in the main room, Percy gave one last disgusted look at the body lying on the floor.

“We need to go.” Jason said. He told Percy about his dream message from the Oracle, and Percy nodded his understanding. He looked absolutely wrecked, but he stood strong. He looked… energized, almost. 

“Then we need to go. It’s a few miles from here to the building, and traffic is going to be a nightmare.”

“Are we going to make it? We only have like an hour or two left of sunlight.”

Percy thought for a moment and then walked over to the corpse. Jason moved out to call to him, but Percy rummaged through the front jeans pockets and pulled out a set of keys.

“I may have a plan.”

\---------------------------------------------------

The motorcycle looked like it had seen better days. Better years, actually. The thing was a rusted piece of junk, and Jason wasn’t sure he trusted it to stay together just sitting there, much less on the actual road. Percy had managed to produce two helmets from somewhere else in the apartment before they had come down. Apparently Alex liked to take some of his dates for rides to impress them.  
“Do you even know how to drive this thing?,” He asked, glancing at Percy.

“Nope.”

“Then I’m driving. I’ve actually driven something like this before.”

“You have?” Percy asked, eyebrows raised.

“Not really, but a moped counts for something right?”

“A moped? Like one of those little scooters they drive in Europe? I don’t-”

“Just get on.”

As Jason started up the motorcycle, the engine coming to life with a deafening roar, something bugged him. Against his better judgement, he turned around, and asked.

“Did you?”

“What?” Percy asked, fitting the helmet to his head. His arms were looped around Jason’s waist, holding on for the ride.

“Use your power? Back at those swim meets.”

Percy glanced away for a second, his mind going somewhere else for a second, then he shook his head.

“I never even thought about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy crushing someone from the inside is a good thing, yes, a very good thing, how could this go wrong, I see this as an absolute win, only good things for my boys, no way this is bad, what a good time for all-


	17. The Power Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy thinks about what he's done, and Eros makes his move.

As they soared through the New York streets, Percy wondered what had even happened over the past few days. Between his whirlwind romance with Jason, who was currently driving a little too slow for Percy’s liking, and the sudden appearance of Eros, it all felt a little too sudden. He was used to having a little bit of time, some buildup before the main event happened, and with a small chill, he wondered to himself. What if this was the buildup? What if there was something even worse in the wings that made this look like a cakewalk? It seemed unlikely, Eros was already an intimidating villain on his own, at least from how the Athena campers had made him out to be, so Percy couldn’t even begin to imagine what else could go wrong. 

But that uneasiness stayed with him, refusing to leave him alone. He gripped Jason a little harder and blew out a breath.

“Everything okay?” Jason said, not turning his eyes from the street as he waited at a stoplight.

“Nothing, it’s just… We’re running out of time. If we want to make it there with enough time to actually confront him and whatever security he has, we need to get there soon.”

“I’m going as fast as I can.” Jason said.

“When I suggested we take the motorcycle, I was imagining a little bit more rule breaking. Why are we even stopping like this? Can’t you just… make us fly?”

Jason laughed, and turned finally, giving him a look like he was crazy. Percy had seen a similar look in his eyes when he had untied Jason earlier, the still corpse of Alex in plain view.

“Are you kidding? I can barely carry another person, let alone an entire motorcycle.”

“Well, what about a small lift? Just enough to clear the intersection. This light is taking forever.”

“I don’t- I’ve never tried anything like that, and I really don’t know if right now is the time to try something like that and end up in a pileup.”

“What do you mean this isn't the time? This is exactly the time for something like that!”

The light turned green, and Jason drove forward. In front of them, Percy could already see the next light was red, and the light after was green, which meant by the time they got there it would be red.

“Punch it.” He said, wrapping his arms more tightly around Jason in anticipation.

“What? No- I’m not going to-”

“Go!” Percy yelled, and on impulse Jason followed the command. The bike jerked forward and suddenly, they were careening towards the red light. Cars raced through the street they were about to cross, but Percy didn’t care.

“Jason, I know you can do this okay? Just focus, and wait for my signal.”

“I don’t even- I can’t-” Jason started, but cut himself off. 

“Okay.” He said, raising his voice to be heard over the growing wind.

“One.” The intersection was close.

“Two.”They sped past a few cars who were already waiting at the light.

“Now!” On his signal, Percy felt the bike tilt upwards, as if it was on a ramp, and with a jerk, it rose a few degrees higher. Before he knew it, they were off the ground, probably six feet in the air. As they flew, Percy did his self appointed job, wrapping the mist around them in a protective layer, so no one was the wiser. He figured the mist would have done the job on its own, but the last thing he needed was to appear on any news channels again. He was still getting stopped six years later about his cross country trip after that interview with Gabe.

The bike bounced as the wheels made contact with the other side of the street, and Percy let out a victorious whoop, laughing into the dimming evening. He patted Jason on the shoulder and leaned in close to talk.

“Only like twenty more!”

“What!?”

“Dude, this is New York, what did you expect?”

“Shit.”

\----  
“Are the preparations ready?” Eros’s voice rang throughout the dark throne room. 

“Yes, my lord. On your signal, all avenues are ready to launch. With it, your image will be launched globally, and all will know your name.”

Eros smiled, and got up from his throne. The box next to him glimmered and shone with potential, all wood replaced with a brilliant gold. It was finally ready. By the end of the night, he would use its incredible power to launch himself to his ultimate goal. No simple demigod was going to stop him. 

He stretched his wings, grinning at the way his servant shrunk back. The foolish mortal knew what they were capable of, and feared him as he should. Soon, everyone would know that fear. Soon, everyone would know his name.

“Then launch. We have some guests on their way.”  
\----

By the 18th jump, Percy could tell Jason was exhausted. As much as he liked the other guy, Percy couldn’t help but think ‘tough break.’ Percy was tired too. As it turned out, manipulating the water in someone’s entire body took a lot out of a guy. He still couldn’t believe he pulled it off. It was something he had always had in the back of his mind, especially after taking, and barely passing, biology. He had learned about vacuoles and how much water cells carried. Blood alone was made out of mostly water, and with enough desperation… he had known what he had to do. A vision of Alex’s body had appeared in his mind, made out of millions of small drops of water, some microscopically big, but enough to manipulate when worked as a single unit. So he did what he did best. He destroyed. Jason had just seen the outside impact, but inside, Alex’s body warped in on itself. It was a brutal way to die. Percy leaned his head against Jason’s back and let it rest there for a moment.

“Seriously Percy, are you okay?” Jason asked, and the concern was touching, it really was. But it wasn’t necessary.

Percy suppressed the smile that was slowly growing on his face as he thought about what he had done. He hid the laugh that almost made its way out of his mouth with a small cough.

“Yeah, Jason. Don’t worry about me. We’re almost there.”

\----  
The man surfed the web on his computer, slowly clicking through sales of furniture for his new apartment, paid for by his new benefactor. He had no idea who the man was, but his friend Michael had introduced him. It was a nice job, all he had to was wait for-

His phone chimed next to him. He reached out to grab it and stopped. A single red square was all the text message sent, the sender a number he didn’t recognize. But it didn’t matter. This was what he had been waiting for. He straightened in his chair and started his work, pulling up pages and breaking into all of the back doors he had set up over the past few months. Soon, news websites and chat rooms would all show the image he had been told to post. One word. Eros. One image. A man with jet black wings soaring above the New York skyline.  
\----

He knew he shouldn’t be so happy. He had just killed someone. A mortal, in fact. But… but it felt like a victory. He had heard Alex’s plans for what he was going to do, so any guilt was easily washed away. He had done the right thing, just maybe for the wrong reasons. It was still the right thing though. A little voice in the back of his head told him the uncomfortable truth. This was exactly what Annabeth hadn't wanted for him. She must have sensed his potential, the potential he was going to have to tap into in the fight to come. A dark potential that he could feel even now, fighting to overtake him. 

He thought about the fight ahead. Eros was bound to have more mortals with the Sight working for him. That meant Riptide wasn’t going to cut it. The only thing they would be able to use to fight were going to be their powers, and Jason had a slight disadvantage. While water could be regulated in its power, electricity was something else. A small shock could have a different effect on different people, meaning Jason was at risk of hurting people more than he meant to. 

Percy wasn’t going to let that happen. He might be becoming the lost cause that Annabeth had feared he would become, but that didn’t mean Jason had to go down with him. When the time came, Percy was prepared to do whatever it took to prevent Jason from blaming himself over someone’s death. 

There was the concern that Percy seemed to lose himself a little bit the more he used his power, as evidenced by his small blackout after crushing Alex, he still didn’t know what he had done next, but when he came to, Jason was eyeing him a little strangely, already freed from his bonds. Apparently, Percy had done so, but he couldn’t remember. He didn’t tell Jason about that. 

“How far are we?” Jason asked, panting from the exertion.

Percy looked around, trying to get a grasp of where they were. 

“We’re here. It’s the next block over.”

Jason pulled the bike to a sudden stop, and onto the sidewalk. Percy was shocked, but made sure no one noticed them besides a passing glance. They got off, and Jason all but threw the motorcycle to the ground, giving the underside a good kick. He turned to Percy.

“We’re walking the rest of the way. Fuck that thing.”

\----  
She sat on the edge of the roof, her legs dangling off the end, and fanned herself with one of the pages she was responsible for delivering. Besides her, stacks and stacks of paper were in tight bundles, and there were almost seventy just on the one rooftop. She couldn’t see the others, but there were more members on other rooftops with their own stacks, and then more members in most of the major cities across the country, all waiting for the next signal. 

She had already gotten the first one, a red square, which meant to get ready, and now she waited for the next one so she could do her job and be done with the stacks of flyers. She still couldn’t believe she was getting paid as much as she was for just throwing some flyers off a roof. The flyers were barebones anyways. She figured it was viral marketing for some new movie or something. All the flyers had on them was one word, and one image.

In her back pocket, she felt her phone buzz.  
\----

They stared up at the building in front of them. It was massive, stretching up into the sky. 

“Ready?” Percy asked, putting away the water bottle into his bag. He had used some to give Jason back a little energy.

“Not really.” Jason said, but he gripped Percy’s hand, and together they walked towards the door. As they reached the entrance, Percy noticed something in the corner of his eye and stopped. It landed a little bit next to him, and he bent down to pick it up. 

Eros, it said, and on it sat the image of a figure flying above New York.

Percy held up the flyer, wondering where it had come from when Jason’s grip tightened on his hand.

“Percy. Look.”

Percy pulled his gaze away from the flyer and looked out and the street, and the sky above. 

“Fuck.”

Above them, hundreds of pieces of paper, which Percy imagined had the same message as the one he had just picked up, were floating in the air, collecting on the street, in the trees. Already, Percy could see people picking them up out of curiosity, reading the name, seeing the image. Thinking about Eros.

Percy remembered Pan, dying in the Labyrinth all alone, vanished from the public eye, and a chill ran down his spine. If a god was lost from people’s mind, they vanished. So, if they were suddenly on everyone’s mind… Things had just gotten bad.

Percy stared at the building. The potential in him grew, close to taking over at any moment he chose. The fight ahead wasn't going to be easy, it wasn't going to be pretty, but he was ready. He would see this through, no matter what.

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is a little bit on the short side, but its just a prelude. The next two chapters will probably be a double post because the end of the next chapter is a pretty crazy idea I've had for a while, and it might not sit well if I leave it out for a week with what happens. We'll see!


	18. The

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final push for Eros begins.

\----  
The message appeared on every major news broadcast, every billboard in Times Square, every street filled with floating flyers all containing the same message. As he watched the security camera while two young men stepped into the lobby, he could already feel the effects. Floors above him, rooms over, even with just the Sight, Michael could feel a surge of power. He smiled, happy his friend had come through with his programming skills. A cursory browse through the internet’s top pages showed him exactly what he wanted to see. He was certain that the effect would be enough for Eros, his master, to dominate the two foolish demigods who were here to stop him. But… just in case… he gazed down in his lap, the cold steel of the gun’s barrel glinting in the lamp light, he was prepared to do whatever he had to do.  
\----

The lobby was, strangely enough, completely empty. The entrance to the… hotel? Apartment complex? Jason wasn’t really sure what it was, but it was enormous, and lavish to an extreme.

“I figured there would be a welcome party.” Percy said, almost sounding disappointed. Jason couldn't relate. He was stronger after Percy had used his water healing trick on him, but those jumps with the bike had taken their toll. He needed to conserve whatever strength he had for the real fight against Eros.

The building had an expansive lobby, and Jason could see a swath of elevators against the back wall. The lights were dimmed, but enough to still see by. As they made their way through the lobby, Jason kept a careful eye on their surroundings, making sure no one was sneaking behind the large pillars or rows of expensive looking chairs. When they got to the elevators, he noticed something. Out of the three elevators, the two side ones had a red LED x on the floor indicator. Only the middle elevator showed the correct floor. He pressed the call button for the one on the right just to check, and after a few seconds of waiting, nothing happened.

“Well, at least we know we are definitely walking into a trap.” Percy said, tone a little too light for Jason’s liking. Percy was concerning him a lot. While he had a more cheerful attitude than usual, there was a dark undertone. It was as if he found something in the situation amusing, when the reality was they were about to fight their way through a group of mortals, and a primordial being.

Jason wasn’t sure how things were going to go. Fights with mortals were always messy in the same way fights with demigods were. The sad truth was that it was ten times easier to kill than it was to incapacitate, and even that counted on the fact that they would be on an even playing field. But their swords weren’t going to hurt the mortals, and he was still not sure how he could use his power without using lethal force. He didn’t want Percy to have to use the power he had demonstrated back in the apartment again. One, it took a lot of energy out of him. Two, it was wrong on so many levels. There was an unfamiliar cruelty to Percy that put Jason on edge. He didn’t want it to have to come to that.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jason asked, his finger hovering over the call button. He figured that once he hit it, the enemy would know they were coming. 

“Are you kidding? We have to do this. Someone needs to pay for what happened to Nico, to all of the half bloods we lost to these assholes.”

“I know that, but… but this is different from what we’ve had to do before. You know that. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park like when we’re fighting monsters. These are people. Real people who have real lives and real friends and we don’t know why or how they ended up here. I’m… I want you to be sure, be absolutely sure that this is what you want to do. Because if we make it through this, this is going to be something I don’t think we can ever forget, or ever make right.”

Percy scowled and looked down.

“This is something I have to do. Something in me… I don’t know what or why, but something in me is screaming at me that I have to do this. I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to do it, no matter who gets in my way.”

That didn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence in Jason. Especially after the Oracle had warned him about Percy. He hadn’t mentioned that part to Percy because… well, he didn’t know why either. Maybe it was because something inside him was also trying to talk to him, warning him that some things just needed to play out.

It wasn’t the answer Jason wanted, but he pushed the button anyways. The button lit up a pale yellow, and they watched as the elevator counted down as it made its way from what Jason presumed was the top floor, all the way up on floor 30.

As the elevator stopped at ground level, groaning slightly as its way to a stop, Jason heard it. The grating of metal against metal, one time, and then again. The doors opened, and on instinct Jason drew back, pulling Percy with him. The air swished in front of them, as a thin bronze sword met the empty space where they had been moments before, crossing with a similar thin golden sword to make a sickening screech of metal on metal. The wielder of the blades came rushing out of the elevator in a flurry of wild, yet deadly accurate strikes that came closer and closer to meeting flesh as Jason and Percy stumbled back.

Percy made a move like he was about to do something, but collapsed to the floor instead, holding his stomach. For a moment, Jason is worried the swordsman has struck him, but he realizes that Percy must have tried to use his power again. Jason can’t decide if he’s happy it didn’t work again, but he pulls out his gladiolus, stopping the attacker before they could get any closer to where Percy was.

As soon as he stops one sword, the other is slashing its way toward him, and he ends up on the retreat, steadily losing ground as he makes his way towards the reception counter, purposefully turning away from Percy. On instinct, he tries to send a full blast of air at the person who he now recognizes as a woman, but a sword strike breaks his concentration and suddenly his back is against the counter. The woman realizes she has the upper hand and winds up for a heavy swing, when Jason jumps up, rolling over the counter. He scrambles on all fours behind the counter, trying to get far away from her, but as he makes his way towards the end of the counter, she steps out from around the corner, and kicks him hard in the face, sending him to the floor face first.

For a second, he thinks that she will simply stab him then and there, but instead she rolls him over, and kneels on top of him, the golden sword laid across his throat keeping him still. She sneers at him and when she speaks, her voice is thin and raspy.

“Remember me?” she says, her eyes boring into Jason’s. For the first time, Jason gets a good look at her, and sees several massive scars running down the length of her face, red marks at her throat, which must contribute to her speech problem.

He doesn't ask who she is, because he doesn't know. He also doesn't especially care, because unfortunately for her she made a fatal mistake. He grabs on to her skin of her hand, and just… pushes.

\----

The five of them walk into the lobby on full alert. Will and Nico are close together, making sure nothing comes at the group, and Annabeth felt a small pang in her heart as she watched them work together. She and Percy were like that once, but it wasn't that she wanted to get back together with him. She missed the feeling of having someone watching her back. 

Piper was beside her, calm, yet poised to act at a moment's notice. Annabeth appreciated the fact that Piper was there, the girl was a powerhouse when she wanted to be, and not just because of her voice. Annabeth had seen her skill with a dagger, and was confident that Piper could back her up if she needed to. 

Neptune took point, since he was immortal and all. He had a sword of his own, a glimmering silver blade with a dark blue hilt. As she looked closer, his blade seemed to move and sway on its own, the shape distorting and changing ever so slightly. With a start, she realized that it was water flowing along the blade's surface, slowly moving around it in what must have been a razor thin coating. She wasn’t sure what the benefit was, but having an available water source must have been important for him.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you being here, but how come you aren’t Poseidon right now? No offence.” She asked him as they picked their way through the lobby. The lobby was a shell of what it had been when she and Piper had been there before, completely empty, and towards the wall of elevators, a sign of a fight. Sword slashes in the carpet and a disheveled rug told her that something had happened.

“None taken. I guess it’s okay if you guys know this, but don’t tell Zeus or Jupiter I told you. They don’t like people knowing our business. It’s a lot harder for us to shift when we aren’t in a godly place, like Olympus or a shrine. Poseidon figured the effort wasn’t worth it.”

“You can talk to him?”

“Oh yeah, it’s kind of like- wait, no. I really shouldn’t be telling you this. No more questions please.” He said, at some point dropping the fake accent entirely. 

Annabeth was about to ask another question when Will gasped from somewhere to her right. She whipped around to see what he was reacting to, ready to leap into action, but Will didn't look like he was in any danger. He was slightly behind the receptionist counter looking down at the floor. She walked over to him.

“What’s wrong?” she said, as he backed away slowly out from behind the desk, going over to Nico. Nico placed a comforting arm around him and led them away, having already seen whatever was behind the counter for himself. 

Annabeth prepared herself for a lot of things as she turned the corner, but she could have never prepared herself for what she saw as soon as she looked down. On the floor below her laid the charred corpse of a woman dressed in all black. But as Annabeth stared at the woman, she realized that she wasn’t charred from being on fire. The woman’s hair was a mess, almost comically out of place all around her head, the edges singed from something. Electricity, Annabeth thought to herself, shuddering at the thought.

Jason’s handiwork.

\----

The ride in the elevator was silent. Percy clutched his stomach, and accepted an arm around his shoulders to steady him. He hadn’t seen what had happened behind the counter but he had heard, and when Jason slowly came out from the receptionist desk, he knew what had happened. It had been the exact thing he had wanted to stop from happening, and it was the first thing that had occurred. He wondered, not for the first time, if the universe could read his thoughts and just liked to screw with him sometimes.

As the elevator dinged quietly, counting its way up the floors, Percy questioned his answer from earlier. Maybe this wasn’t the right idea after all. He tightened his grip on one of the swords Jason had picked up from the remains of the woman. On closer inspection, Percy realized that the blades were suitable for fighting mortals. At first he had worried that the blades were made out of celestial bronze and imperial gold, but the coloration was purely decorative. The woman must have wanted to taunt them or something.

While he had been on the ground, he heard little of what had happened behind the counter, save for a scream of pain as electricity racked through the woman’s body, but he did hear something about her asking Jason if he remembered her. There was a story there, but the haunted look on Jason’s face kept him from asking.

He glanced up at the LED indicator, watching it tick closer and closer to the top. 26. Then, a few seconds later, 27. Tensions built up in his gut, the nerves he always felt before a fight. 28. He pulled away from Jason, standing on his own two feet. His body moved on its own, getting ready for anything that might lie behind the silver elevator doors.

“Ready?” He asked, hoping to break the silence.

Jason nodded slowly, also getting into a stance. 29. Percy hoped they were just being paranoid, and maybe everyone else was out doing whatever they had been doing with the papers, but he knew better than to hope. But just maybe-

The elevator dinged floor 30, and the doors slid open. Beyond them was an elegant entrance hall with rows of doors on either side, and a split walkway that went to the left and right at the end of the hall. The room shimmered with marble and gold accents, and while his family was doing alright now, especially after Annabeth's stipend, he had never felt as poor as he had upon seeing what must of been a room worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Percy realized that the floor wasn’t just another floor, but it was all one big suite. And it wasn’t abandoned as he had hoped. In front of them was a small group of people, all cloaked in dark robes, and each holding a glimmering weapon. Axes, daggers, and swords pointed at them, and together, Percy and Jason stepped out of the elevator, and began to fight.

\----

Michael watched from the security cameras as his friends and compatriots were slaughtered by the two boys, a grim firm line on his face. It was the result he had expected, but it still stung to see Natasha, Roy, Marvin, Alice, Pat... all of his friends mowed down with swords and lighting as the duo tore through the room like a hurricane. He shut the laptop, not wanting to see any more, and by doing so, he missed another group that suddenly appeared in front of the building, as if by magic. 

He made his final preparations, making sure everything was in order for when things had settled down again, and took a deep breath. Things were going to be okay, he thought to himself. Lord Eros had made all of the necessary precautions. But just in case, for this one time, he was going to go against Lord Eros’s wishes. He would go up to the top floor, and he would make sure that everything went according to plan. If he happened to take out some of the rage and anguish he felt for the loss of his friends on the two demons currently hacking them to bits, well..., that was purely a bonus.  
He counted the bullets in his gun, and cocked it. He was going to make sure this ended today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be two chapters but then I realized that it was incredibly long so I'm actually breaking this up into three parts, the other parts should be up relatively soon.


	19. End?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does it mean for something to end?

Jason stumbled out of the entrance hall, clutching a small wound to his side. He gasped for a breath and slid down the wall, trying to sort out what he had just done. It was a massacre. Despite all of their looks and their weapons, the mortal servants had been pure amateurs, nothing like the woman downstairs. But they weren’t just amateurs. They were amateurs who didn’t know when to quit. Jason had seen a few demigods like that when he spent a few weeks training new Roman recruits basic sword techniques, and he always made sure to stamp it out when he could. Because it led to this. Blood, and gore, and having to take a life to make sure they didn’t get back up and stab you in the back while you were distracted with their friend. 

One had actually managed to get the jump on him as he turned away to parry a swipe from another, and grazed him in the side, which he tenderly prodded. It wasn’t anything too bad, but in return, Percy had been there in an instant, cutting down the attacker with a savage grace. 

Percy limped out of the room behind him, shouldering off the backpack, and breaking off pieces of ambrosia for each of them. Jason took his, careful to avoid the blood on his hands, and tried not to gag as the scent of blood mixed with his favorite scents and flavors. He could feel the gash on his side closing, and a faint current of energy made its way through his body.

He looked up at Percy, trying to decipher what the other was thinking, but Percy’s face was blank, his eyes surveying the area, making sure there wasn’t a second wave. He was still in fight mode, but Jason had a feeling that might have been it. He hoped that it was over, at least from dealing with mortals. They still had a certain love god to deal with.

He stood up, still shaky on his feet, and tried to rest his weight on the wall, but instead the wall gave, and he tumbled into a dark room. Percy moved towards him to help, but stopped as he stared past Jason and further into the room. Jason looked over his shoulder and gasped.

In the dark, small room, the goddess of the hearth laid crumpled on a small spring mattress. Golden shackles that were almost comically large cuffed each hand, and each leg. She shivered violently, and opened one bleary eye to stare at them.

“P-Percy? Is that you?”

Percy pulled Jason up quickly off the floor, and rushed over, surveying the restraints.

“It’s me, Hestia. I’m here.” 

He tested his blade against the shackles, but they didn’t budge. He pulled out Riptide from his pocket, but Hestia shook her head.

“There isn’t time. You need to go, before it is too late. Eros has the Box, and if you don’t stop him, there is no chance for any of us.”

“But-”

“No.” She said, a surprising amount of strength from someone who looked a weary as she did.

“Stop Eros, and then you may free me. But if you do not hurry, freeing me will accomplish nothing. Eros will achieve his goal and use the Box to start the next Era with him as its keeper. You must go. I can wait. I swear.”

Percy looked stricken, but he stepped away, nodding slowly. 

“Okay, but… I will come back for you, got it? I- I won’t leave you like this.”

“I know Percy, I know. I must say, I have missed the kind boy who talked to me that day. Do not lose that. It is your greatest strength, no matter what you believe right now. Now go, and save us all once more.”

Something Hestia had said must’ve struck a nerve, because Percy looked like he was holding back tears. He nodded again, and pulled Jason out of the room, rushing towards the end of the hall, where a brilliant light show was beginning on the terrace outside.

\----

The group waited as the elevator made its way slowly up the floors, slightly cramped as they all squeezed into the small space. It was slightly awkward, standing next to a god, Piper thought, in a space as mundane as an elevator. Was she supposed to ask him how the weather was?

“So,” Annabeth started, taking the time to ask more questions, even after being told to stop, “What exactly is going to happen if Eros does whatever it is he’s trying to do. I mean, I assume you know what he is trying to do?”

“Again, it’s sort of against the rules to talk about this with all of you. I’d have to-”

“Fuck the rules!” Piper said, anger flaring inside of her.

“I really don’t think now is the time to be worrying about all of that,” Will agreed, still looking a bit sick from the corpse he had found. Piper thought it was weird that a medic would react the way he did, but maybe he had never seen something as gruesome as that before.

The corpse made her think. She had always known Jason was a powerful demigod and she had been part of fights where he had used lighting against his enemies, but there was something different about being there and just seeing the aftermath. There was too much left to the imagination.

“I-” Neptune started, stopping for a second, before continuing. 

“Fine. But I’m only doing this because Poseidon said it was okay.” He scratched at his neck.

“There are certain Eras of the Greek and Roman worlds. You probably already know about a few of them. The age of the Primordial, the Titans, the Gods. Now, it seems as though the time has come, or maybe I should say, we are overdue for a new age. That is why you have seen such major threats like Kronos and Gaea try to seize power so close together. The shifting of Eras leads to major power vacuums, and this appears to be no different.”

“So what happens if Eros takes control of the new Era?” Nico asked.

“Whatever he wants. Being the keeper of an Era means to be in a position akin to Zeus as he is now. You can dictate world events, order deities around, even- Well, you can even change some of the Rules.”  
Annabeth went white.

“You mean like- the Rules rules, and not like, just- rules?” She said, sputtering a bit.

Neptune nodded, a grave look on his face.

“The Rules are not set in stone. With enough power and influence, they can be adjusted to one’s ideals. You must see how dangerous that can be.”

“When you say Rules, you mean…” Piper started, but she was still a little lost.

“The Rules that guide the Universe, an example would be-”

“It’s the reason our parents say they can’t interfere with a quest, or help us out in our lives.” Annabeth said, a scowl setting in. 

“So, what? Zeus could have changed that if he wanted to?”

“Zeus is the reason the Rule is there in the first place. He was the one who created it.”

Zeus might as well have slapped Piper across the face, because suddenly she was furious.

“So you mean all of this time you guys could have been helping us? Or dealing with your shit instead of sending us to do your dirty work?”

“I know, please, don’t-”

“No! We get to be mad. This is the dumbest shit I’ve heard in my entire life. You lazy-” Pier advanced, pointing at Neptune accusingly, but Annabeth held her back.

“Piper, come on. It’s not his fault.”

“How can you defend him. Haven’t you been on like- seven different quests for them? How many of those quests could they have done instead of sending kids to do it?”

“I know that, but this isn’t his fault. You just heard what he said. It’s Zeus. If you want to blame someone, blame him, but now isn’t the time to get angry with each other.” She looked at each of them in term, making sure they were all looking at her.

“We all need to work together here, whether we like it or not. Percy and Jason are somewhere here, and they need our help to stop this thing before Eros wins. Now, can we all just-”

The door dinged open behind her, and Piper smelt it before she saw it. The smell of iron was heavy in the air, and she took a step back in shock, bumping into Will. Annabeth saw their reactions first since she was facing away from the doors when she had been speaking, and she silently turned around. 

All was quiet as each of them took in the scene before them, when suddenly, a gunshot rang out from further inside, and they took off in search of the noise. Piper tried to step around the… messier parts of the battlefield, but she knew she was going to have to throw away her shoes if she didn’t want to become a suspect in a murder investigation by how deep red her shoes were becoming. 

As they got to the end of the hall, they stopped, not sure which way to go. Annabeth looked like she was going to go right, but stopped.

“Did you hear that?” She said, putting a finger to her mouth so everyone would be quiet.

They listened hard, and then Piper heard it. A groan, coming from a slightly ajar door that was so embedded in the wall and out of the way that she would have missed it otherwise. Neptune paused at the entrance, peering inside. Piper was about to ask what he saw when another gunshot rang out, and then soon after, another. 

“We need to go.” Annabeth said, her face pale.

“I’m staying behind,” Will said. “There could be someone who needs help in there.”

“I’ll go with you,” Nico said, “The rest of you go help Percy and Jason.”

Annabeth nodded, not wasting any time arguing and then they were off again, now reduced to three. 

\----

Jason barged through the doors leading to the terrace, almost knocking them off of the hinges. The terrace was massive, almost all smooth concrete with big pots of flowers spread throughout. It looked a little empty design wise, but it was most likely due to the massive rune engraved on the empty surface, different geometric shapes merging together adorned with ancient Greek symbols.

At the design’s center stood a tall man with large black wings shone in the amber light that remained in the sky. He stood with his back to them, but Jason knew that he was not surprised to see them. His stance was relaxed, carefree, and it made Jason weary. 

Percy was right besides him, Riptide already out. Jason could see he itched to go forward, to start the fight already, but something stopped him. The same anticipation that Jason felt. Something was wrong.

“Welcome,” the man said, a large grin on his face as he turned around. The man was incredibly attractive, but Jason looked closer. Past the chiseled jawline, and clear skin, the perfectly done hair, it wasn’t ringing true. It was like looking at a photo that had been touched up afterwards, a sheen that wasn’t human. 

“Right on time,” The man continued, and Jason noticed that behind him was a marble pedestal, and on top of it was a box. Not just a box. The Box. Whatever Eros was planning, that was what they needed to get to. The Oracle’s message played back in Jason’s mind. Percy couldn’t go near the thing for some reason, which meant Jason was going to have to get it. That meant going through Eros.

Eros noticed Jason looking at the box and smiled wider.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? You’re looking at a fully charged Pandora’s Box, or Pithos, or whatever people are calling it nowadays. It’s actually kind of funny to look at actually.”

“What’s funny about the thing you sacrificed people’s lives for? You think their sacrifice is funny?” Percy growled, hands clenching tighter on the grip of his sword.

“It’s just- oh, I just find the whole thing so amusing. You know the story, yes? I imagine you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t. This box once held unspeakable evil, and a foolish young woman exposed the world to all of the death and decay it now knows. But did you know who gave her the box? People tend to glance over that part. Zeus. He created the young woman to get his revenge on some fools, and tricked her into opening the box. Zeus ruined mankind because he got his feelings hurt, and here is a descendant of part of him, come to claim it back. Funny, no?”

Jason shook his head.

“You’re sick. Whatever the fuck you think you’re doing, we’re here to stop you.”

“Oh, I know that. But before the fight begins, care for a little tale?”

“What are you-” Percy started, but Eros cut him off.

“A little tale about the people you work for, the reason you’re here to stop me. It goes something like this. Long ago, when the Titans were defeated, the world… shifted, from one Era to the next. And at its center was one being. Zeus. He guided the world to be shaped as we know it today, and the golden age of humanity began. Things were good, great even, for the human beings who lived during those times. Humans and gods were connected on a deep level, worship and sacrifice was at an all time high. But things began to turn. The gods became reckless. Selfish. More and more monsters crept into the surface world, as the gods lazed around on their thrones and did nothing.”

“What does this have to do with-”

“The gods turned against the humans, appearing less and less. More than that, punishments were dealt to humans, many of whom did nothing to deserve it. Percy, you have a little experience with what I’m referring to. You’ve killed two of the god’s victims yourself.”

Jason looked at Percy, who looked torn. Jason wasn’t sure what Eros was referring to, but Percy clearly knew.

“Poor Arachne, poor Medusa. Two women who did nothing to deserve the fate the god’s meted out. Arachne was only a talented weaver. Medusa was a victim of Poseidon and Athena’s eternal grudge. I’m sure your gods were happy, learning what you did to them. They must have been proud.”

Percy took a step back. 

“No,” He said, shaking his head in denial. “They- maybe they started out as victims, but they had both done bad things by the time I fought them. Medusa had a human garden. Arachne was chasing Annabeth. It’s not like they gave me a choice.”

“Does that excuse it then?” Eros asked. “Can you really wave away their injustice that easily?”

“What’s the point of this?” Jason asked.

“The point. The point is this! The whole thing. The gods abandoned the world! Have you ever looked around and noticed that the whole world is going to shit? As people forgot about Eros, and I became Cupid, I felt something for the humans. Sympathy. Like me, they were dealt a bad hand, became inconvenient for the gods, and I knew that something had to be done. Zeus needed to be stopped.”

“You see, Zeus actually keeps a little secret up his sleeve. Most people brush over it, but that’s exactly the point. The gods have been through two, not just one, but two major Eras. And when that first Era ended, Zeus made a few changes. He changed the Rules. Ever wonder why you don’t see the gods doing any of their own dirty work? Ever wonder why you have to accept quests to pick up their scarf, or defeat one of their enemies? It’s because Zeus made it that way. He made it against the Rules for gods to help, so he would always have an excuse to load his work onto someone else. He uses you demigods like little disposable tissues. Do you think he cried when Thalia turned into a tree? Do you think he felt sympathy for Jason when he was living with his first parents in New Rome?”

“How do you know all of this?” Jason asked, trying to push down the memories that threatened to surface.

“I’ve been watching the two of you for a long time now. I’ve always had a sense that you would be here when this all went down.”

“So? What are you going to do now?”

“I want to offer you a choice.”

“Whatever it is, no thanks.” Percy said.

“You’re not even curious? Haven’t you ever imagined what the world would look like if the gods weren’t in charge anymore? I know you might not believe me, but I do want what is best for the world, and the gods are not that anymore. The longer they reign, the worse things will get until civilization collapses, and chaos reigns. I will prevent that. Under my rule, things will get better, I will make this world truly beautiful.”

“You murdered people. You used them to charge up that Box, and you don’t even look sorry about it. How in the world can we trust whatever you say you’re going to do when you don’t even care about human life?”

“Sacrifices have to be made in the name of progress. Their blood paved the way forward for new life for the entire world. Their sacrifice was nothing in the face of what it will achieve.”

“You fucking monster, I’m going to kill you!”

Percy charged forward and the fight began. Right away, Eros spread out his wings, and shot dart-like feathers that punctured the concrete, and Jason dove out of the way to avoid them. Percy took cover behind a planter filled to the brim with dark red roses, and then took off again, behind another, slightly closer to Eros. The god pulled out a sword of his own, a sleek blade blade with jagged, serrated edges and charged Percy’s position. 

If the circle runes were a clock, they were at 6 o’clock, and the Box was at 12. Somehow, they needed to get past Eros and get to it, but Eros seemed determined to keep that from happening. He immediately spread out his wings, revealing their massive wingspan, momentarily blocking their advance to the box.

Jason reached out and summoned a heavy bolt of lightning that managed to both blind and temporarily deafen himself, but it worked, as Eros was slammed into the ground, struggling to lift himself up.

Percy jumped up from behind the planter and went to strike, but Eros was faster, lifting his blade just in time to stop the swing, and then getting back to his feet. Suddenly, Percy and Eros were engaged in a deadly sword fight, too close together for Jason to repeat his attack again. Percy ducked under a swing and slashed Eros’s side, who swore and took a step back. Jason took his chance to go after the Box while Eros was distra-

A shot rang out, and Jason froze. He looked around, and then down at himself, making sure he wasn’t hit anywhere, when Percy crumpled in front of Eros, a hand holding his stomach. Eros looked at him in shock, looking left and right to see what had happened. A man emerged from the building, the gun in his hand still pointed at Percy.

“Lord Eros,” He said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. “I have come to help you kill the two pests.”

“You- Good job, Michael. But-” Eros got close to the man, his sword pinned under his throat, “If you ever disobey me again, do not expect me to give you any mercy.”

The man, Micheal apparently nodded, and took a few steps back.

“Of course, your lord. It was just- I wanted to make sure you were okay?”

“So you doubted me?”

“No! It’s just… the stories you’ve shared with us about these two, I wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again.”

“Hmm.” Eros said, glancing over to the fallen body of Percy, and then back to Jason.

“Finish it then.”

The man nodded eagerly, and before Jason could react, still in shock at the figure of Percy laying on the cold cement, blood beginning to pool around him, he pulled the trigger, and hit Jason in the stomach. Jason put a hand to his stomach and stared at the red smudges on his palm. He didn’t- This wasn’t supposed to-

He fell to his knees, his sword falling from his hand, hitting the ground with a clang. The man, Michael, walked over him and grinned.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, you dirty piece of trash.” He used a leg to topple Jason, and he landed on his back with a heavy thud. He stood over Jason, waving the gun at him.

“This is what you get for everything you’ve done. All of the people you’ve killed, the things you didn’t even know you did. I was watching that fight downstairs, I’ve been watching this entire time. You didn’t even ask her name. You didn’t even care who she was. Well guess what, asshole. Her name was Jenny fucking Pierce, and you were the reason her entire family died in a car crash, the same car crash that left her disfigured and a social pariah. Lord Eros helped her, because he isn’t like your cruel gods, but I guess you’ll never know his mercy. Because this ends now.”

He lifted the gun up from Jason’s midsection, and suddenly Jason was staring straight down the barrel. He didn’t react, he didn’t know how to. Instead, he looked to his right, at Percy, and saw two sea green eyes staring back at him. There were a million things he wanted to say to Percy, tell him how much he loved him, how Percy needed to treat himself better. He wished he had gotten to spend more time with him, cursing the two years they didn’t talk. Who knew how things could have been different if they had gotten together sooner.

It was almost funny in how cruel the world could be, Jason thought. The past year had given him hope. Hope that someday he could live a fairly normal life. That when he died, it wouldn’t be at the hands of some monster, or while he was on a quest. Wish granted, he thought. There was no monster, just a man. There was no quest, just a suicide mission in the name of vengeance. 

But- No. No. This wasn’t right. Jason refused to believe that this was it. He turned back to the man, and made a plan. Because this wasn’t the way his story ended, something in the back of his mind screamed at him that this wasn’t right. He refused for this to be the-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ?


	20. The Infinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy gets a second chance to make things right.

Percy flinched from the gunshot, and turned his eyes away quickly. Tears stung in his eyes, but he didn’t have long to mourn before a foot was nudging into his side, turning him over so he was facing Michael. Staring down the same gun that had just killed his boyfriend a few moments ago. As Michael grinned deviously above him, Percy realized that at some point he stopped caring. It was over, or at least, it might as well have been. 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Michael said, his foot pressing deeper into Percy’s stomach. The pain from the aggravation of the gunshot wound sent Percy from agony to pure numbness, and Percy let out a hoarse half chuckle.

“What’s so funny, freak? Got nothing else to say? Disappointing. I’ve heard the tales of your witty comebacks. Don’t we deserve one?”

“Hurry up.” Eros called from somewhere to Percy’s right. 

“Ye- Yes, my lord.” Michael said, his bravado disappearing for a moment.

“Well, I guess this is it, then. I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, but I think I’ll remember this for a long, long tim-”

Michael’s head whipped to the side as a silver glimmer slammed into it, and the gun clattered to the floor. Percy raised his head for a moment to look at what had happened and saw a large blade sticking into the side of Michael’s head, his body limp. Water poured along the sides of the blood, stained red with blood as it spilled onto the floor. As he looked, the blade pulled itself out of the man, and soared through the air, and Percy followed it as it landed hilt first into the open hand of a man who he could have sworn was the older version of himself.

The man’s eyes met Percy’s and his face went pale. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Moments later, Eros was between him and the man. His body moved up and down slightly as he stood there, and Percy realized that he was talking. They were both talking, Percy realized, he just couldn’t hear them. It was as if he had cotton in his ears, preventing him from knowing what was happening around him. He laid his head back onto the cool cement of the patio, and stared up at the sky, feeling the vibrations through the floor as a fearsome battle started up around him.

\----

Annabeth ran to catch up with Neptune as he charged towards Eros, their swords clashing with a shock wave that almost caused her to stumble. She ducked to the right, away from Eros and towards Percy, who was laid prone on the floor, midway between the circle runes on the floor and the altar that held the Box. She wanted to head straight for the Box, but the amount of blood pooling around Percy let her know that Percy needed medical attention before anything else. She moved at the edges of the fight, keeping an eye on Eros, and the door to the patio. The last thing they needed was more reinforcements joining the fight.

Piper was stuck by the door, her eyes frozen at the sight of her ex boyfriend, and while Annabeth wanted to be sympathetic, she knew it was already too late for Jason. While Percy had gotten away with the wound to his abdomen, Jason was gone. 

She knelt down to Percy, her hands clutching the sides of his face, and his eyes, unfocused and already drooping, slowly moved to stare at her.

“You’re blocking my view.” He said, as he looked back out towards the sky which was quickly dimming as the sun made its way closer and closer to the horizon. From what Neptune had said, they needed to deal with this before the sun was down. They were running out of time, and nothing was going right.

“Really, Percy?” She asked, as she opened up the small packet of ambrosia she had in her pockets. She wished she had a bigger piece, or some water, but the only source of water nearby was what sloshed out of Neptune’s sword, which seemed to energize him throughout the fight. 

"This isn't how I wanted to meet in person again. After this is all over, we're going to have a little talk about scaring me like this."

He laughed a little, and clutched his side with a wince.

"I don't even know what to do if we make it out of this." His head lolled to the side and stared at where Jason laid, and Annabeth noticed Piper walking over to him.

She broke up the small rectangle and forced some of it into Percy’s mouth. He chewed slowly, and coughed a little. Thankfully, somehow, there was no blood that came out, and Annabeth lifted his shirt a little to see the damage. She let out a silent prayer to every god and goddess she knew, even Hera, because the bullet most likely hadn’t hit anything vital from where it had entered. Percy looked out of it, and the wound needed to be dealt with, but there was a chance, a much bigger chance then she had originally imagined when she had first seen him from across the balcony, that he would make it out of this.

"Eat this, and we'll see what comes next, okay? I- I'm really sorry. Piper told me about you guys."

“Hey, Wise Girl?” He asked, and suddenly she felt wetness slide down her cheeks. She rubbed away the tears, and moved in closer to hear.

“I have a request.”

\----

Percy started crawling.

\----

Piper wasn’t sure what to do. Eros and Neptune were fighting one on one, and she didn’t think she could make a difference with her dagger. Annabeth was kneeling over Percy, her head closer to his mouth while he whispered something into her ear. Nico and Will were still dealing with Hestia inside the penthouse. Jason was-. Shit, she thought. Fuck. This was everything she had ever feared. The fear that one of her friends would eventually meet their end in front of her, killed far before they were supposed to at the hands of the enemy. Out of all the people, she never even imagined it being Jason to fall first. It wasn’t even in her purview. The concept was completely foreign. And yet, here he was. 

She remembered the last time they had spoken. They had gotten lunch in California, it was one of the rare days when they were both free for a moment. Between his meetings with Camp Jupiter leaders, and her job as a production assistant on the film set, they hadn’t had time to get together, despite being so close for the first time in months. Originally, Piper wasn’t sure what their relationship was going to look like after they had broken up, but it was in moments like those when she knew they were going to be okay. As she sat across from him at the table, slowly picking her way through her fries, and then some of his, she had finally relaxed.

She remembered the way he had looked back then. The way he had smiled, the way he made her laugh. It made her think of how he had been when they had first ‘met’. The person who she only had false memories of. They were completely different people. The way he talked, the way he held himself, the way he made a joke. It was all different. It wasn’t bad, she still liked him a lot, but there was something different about him. It was like taking a blurry image and then focusing it. The same concept, but a clearer outline of the details. Details that meant she wasn't sure if she would have fallen for him if they were there when they first met.

Details that didn’t make for someone she could call her boyfriend. But it was someone who could be her best friend. That day, despite being broken up for the better part of a year, was the first time Piper had felt like she had truly seen Jason. She saw him for all of his faults, and all of his little quirks that made her heart squeeze, because he was someone who deserved good things, and she wanted to just talk to him some more about the things that they wanted out of life. 

She moved towards him now, slowly, as if she might spook him somehow, and as she stood above him, she felt a ball form in her throat. She tried to swallow, but she took a ragged breath instead. She closed her eyes and stood there for a moment, but just a moment. She stopped herself from crying as it wasn’t the time, sniffling slightly as she took a step away from him. She rubbed her eyes and turned away, back towards the battle. She took out her dagger, and slowly made her way into the fray. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she didn’t care. She was going to try every trick in the book if it meant taking down Eros, and she was going to make it hurt.

She tightened her grip on her dagger, and made an oath to herself that she was going to make Jason proud, no matter what it took.

\----

Annabeth helped half-drag Percy along to his destination.

\----

There were only a few minutes left before he was supposed to enact his final plan, and Eros was getting worried. The two boys had already been a substantial bump in his plan, but now there was an actual god to deal with. A god who was royally pissed off after seeing his counterpart’s son with a gunshot wound. Eros blamed the damn mortals he had used in his plans. They had been too eager, too ready to please that they had actually been more of a hindrance than anything.

He loathed them, the smelly little ingrates who called him their master. He hated the way they devoted themselves wholly to him. Some of them had their reasons for joining him, like the ones who he had managed to get out of asylums where they had been treated for what mortal doctors called ‘frequent hallucinations.’ Some of them wanted revenge for past encounters with demigods. He didn’t care. None of it mattered, in the end. His plan didn’t involve them at all.

He stepped back from a swipe of Neptune’s sword, and swung upwards, trying to get him off balance, but Neptune batted the attack away with a simple movement. He pressed forward to get Neptune on the retreat, but he left himself exposed for a moment, earning a shallow cut on his left arm. He cursed and retreated.

He had been counting on the mortal influence he had provoked to give him more of an edge, but even that was proving to be disappointing. While it had worked at first, the effects were rapidly decreasing, and he had a feeling a certain someone was working to minimize the effects. It meant he needed to work fast, which meant he needed to deal with the nuisance as fast as he could. When the sun set, he needed to be ready to work.

“I'll rip you apart!” Neptune yelled, as he started a flurry of slashes that kept Eros on the retreat to avoid any more hits.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, child.” He returned, loving the way Neptune’s face scrunched up in rage. Gods were like that, they all hated being reminded that they were not the originals. 

Neptune let out a war cry and renewed his charge, his swings savage, but sloppy. Eros punished his overstep with several jabs to his forearms that bled golden ichor freely. He smiled, confidant he had started to turn the tide, but he needed to do more. As Neptune hissed at his wounds and stepped away, Eros plunged forward, continuing his onslaught with devastating precision. A slash across the stomach, a slice on the arm. Small victories as the two clashed swords added up, and Neptune was sagging.

Water sloshed out of the sword and onto Neptune’s arm, slowly closing small scratches to small golden lines, but it was taking too long for the bigger wounds. Eros twisted in place, and spread his wings wide, and they tore the sword out of Neptune’s hands, the sharp edges tearing up his hand as well. Neptune called the sword back to him, but with his dominant hand out of the picture, he was fighting a losing war.

“I see you still need to brush up on your combat skills. You never were the type to take things very seriously, were you?”

“Stop talking. I can still fight. This won’t stop me from ripping that stupid grin off your face.”

“We both know how this ends, little one.”

Neptune used a bloody hand to wipe a stray hair from his face, leaving golden smears. He readjusted his stance, ready to begin the fight anew, and Eros grinned. This was going to be fun, he thought. Finally, a chance to kill one of the wretches who dared to call themselves a god. He would show Neptune what it really meant to be a god.

\----

Percy reached his destination.

\----

“Eros.” He rasped out, and despite his small voice, Eros stopped before he could attack the haggard looking Neptune again.

“Wha- What are you doing?!” Eros cried, taking a few steps forward, but stopped short as Percy hefted Riptide against the smooth wood of the Box. The damn box that was the cause for all of the shit he had been through.

“Do not. Perseus, do not. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“The thing is, I really don’t care. You made sure of that when you let your mook kill my boyfriend.”

Percy plunged the tip of the sword into the soft flesh of the wood, and it creaked as the wood shifted and groaned as it splintered.

“No!” Eros shouted, and he started to run. Annabeth stepped in front of him, her dagger at the ready.

“Stop!” a new voice rang out, and Percy was ready to comply, but something told him that the command wasn’t for him.

Eros stopped in his place, his arms frozen in motion. Piper stood to the side, standing strong as she stared down the god of love.

“Don’t move, stay.” Piper sounded like she was talking to a dog, and Percy could see that Eros was fuming. He smiled, and dug the sword into the box a little deeper. His strength was failing him, but he knew he had to do this.

“You maniacs! He’ll destroy us all! I’m not the one you should be stopping!”

“The thing is, why should we trust anything you say?” Annabeth said, her dagger still pointed at Eros, who squiremed in place as he struggled to move.

“I would never lie about this,” He yelled. “That box currently holds the power to rip apart this reality from the inside out. By destroying it, you will doom every living being in the universe! Do you really want to take that chance?”

Percy laughed, and everyone turned to look at him. Riptide was completely through the box, and it was splintered from the strain. A golden light poked out from beneath the cracks, glimmering with a radiance that was almost blinding. Percy could feel the pulse of power radiating from the box, and he knew that even if Eros was lying, the box was something formidable, something to be taken seriously. And he had just destroyed it.

“Oops.” He said, and the box split open, the golden light slowly growing until it overtook everything, and then everything became the golden light. Percy could feel himself fading, becoming one with the golden light, and as he drifted off into nothingness, he thought of what could have been.

\----

Choose, a voice echoed, in the deep recesses of his mind.

"What?"

The golden light exploded in a cacophony of images and noise. For a moment, it was blinding, deafening, but it soon faded to a dull constant thrum. Images came into focus and then left, snippets of conversation overlapped and intersected, sometimes completely different people talking, sometimes the voice would split into two different lines of dialogue at once. 

Choose, the voice repeated.

"I don’t know what you mean," he said.

The images slowed down to a crawl, and suddenly he could see glimpses of Annabeth, Grover, his friends, Jason. Different scenes played out all at once. In one fragment, Annabeth was talking to someone on the phone, her free hand thumbing the pages of a thick textbook that it looked like she was trying to read. In another, Nico was in the dark, crawling on the floor of an old kitchen. He looked terrified, but before Percy could see anymore, the image was gone.

Jason sat on the edge of a beach, his feet buried in the sand in front of him. The sea breeze whipped around him, and tousled his hair as he stared out at the horizon. There was a sad look on his face, and he turned, as if he could see Percy looking at him. The image ended, far too soon for Percy’s liking. He reached out for the image, but it was gone, only an empty golden light in its place.

You must choose, the voice repeated.

"I don’t know what that means. Choose what?" 

Reality. You must choose.

Percy was a little shocked. He didn’t expect the voice to actually answer him. It was somehow completely toneless, without any gender. The moment he tried to think of what it sounded like, it seemed to slip out of his mind, leaving him grasping at straws.

"I get to… choose one of these?"

Yes. The Shift has begun, the universe needs guidance for a Prime universe. You must choose.

"I- I didn’t want this."

It does not matter. You must-

"I know," Percy rolled his eyes. The repetition was getting annoying, and he was still trying to process everything that had happened in the last hour. As if the space could read his thoughts, it shifted, and suddenly he could see the roof terrace scene. Eros with his outstretched hand towards a slowly growing golden light, his mouth opening at a glacial pace as if he was trying to say something. Neptune, Piper, and Annabeth were staring at the spot in horror, their eyes wide with shock. 

His mind drifted, and suddenly he was looking at the one thing he never wanted to see again. Jason laid on the pavement, face down, thankfully, but there was nothing to really be thankful for. Percy jerked away from the image, sending it away as fast as he could.

Not this one? The voice asked.

He shook his head.

“No. Never.” He said, his voice coarse.

Then what?

He thought of the images that the place had shown him, and more appeared. He focused his thoughts, all around one person. Jason fighting at Camp Jupiter, Jason studying at a desk of a library nearly empty of students. Jason laughing at a joke made by someone just out of frame.

“I want one where he can be happy. Where we can all be happy”

The image shifted, and he stared at a burning pyre. A crowd had gathered near one of the amphitheaters, and he saw Piper near the front, her face wet with tears. He knew without looking anymore whose funeral it was.

“Why are you showing me this?”

The image flashed again, and he was blasted with images of Jason. Jason with a sword through his midsection. Jason, seconds from being hit by a car that looked nowhere near stopping. Jason, surrounded by a group of tiny creatures with sharp maws, their limbs stretched towards him. Jason with a knife inches away from his neck. Jason with a gun pointed at him. The images kept coming, and then the sound came. Gunshots, the slash of a knife through flesh, a thud of a body against metal, the crunch of bone.

“Stop!”

The images came to a screeching halt, and he was alone again.

“What was that?” He asked, horrified from the images burned into his mind.

Inevitability. Your request can not be granted. The one you have chosen is a catalyst, an essential sacrifice to the forces of the Universe. There is almost no chance he survives long enough to meet the request you wish for.

“Jason? What the fuck does the universe want with him? Why does he have to die?”

There is no reason. The forces have made their selection, and he was chosen. 

“So his death is guaranteed? Just like that?”

Essentially.

“Essentially? It sounds like you aren’t sure.”

Nothing is guaranteed. The Universe is infinite.

“Okay, well then I have a question. When I choose, is it final? Can I change my mind?”

The chooser can alter his wish any time he wants, as long as he is the chooser.

“Well, I hope you like the sound of my voice, because I have a feeling I’m going to be back here a lot. I don’t care what happens. I’m going to go through each and every one of these worlds, as long as it fucking takes. I’m going to get my boyfriend back.

The room sighed, as if it was reluctantly accepting its fate.

Very well then, it said. Let us begin.

Before Percy could say anything else, the golden light intensified, and he had to close his eyes. He could hear rapid motion around him, like he was falling, and he braced himself. Then, everything went quiet. Percy opened his eyes to see what had happened, and was greeted by the sight of an empty hospital room. He could feel the soft material of the bed, the loose cloth of a hospital gown around him, and he gasped for a breath, as if he hadn't taken one in a while. As if on cue, monitors to his right started blaring and a nurse came rushing into the room. When she saw him sitting upright, she went pale and took a half step back. He grimaced at the loud noise.

"Oh! Mr. Jackson. You're awake! I'll- I can go call your family. They were actually just here! Um... I can just-" She moved closer to him, but she looked unsure about something. She turned the monitors off and made some notes about the various readings they were displaying. 

"There you go, nice and quiet. I'll let the doctor know you are awake, and I'll let your parents know." She said, turning to the side, clearly uncomfortable about something.

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. Within the noise of the machines, it was almost as if something had slipped away. What had he been doing before this? How had he ended up here? He didn't remember, he only had a vague awareness of the weird dream he had emerged from. Something about Greece? But that wasn't it. There was something else on the tip of his tongue. A name. Jason Grace. He had no clue who the hell that was, but he had a feeling it was important. When everything else about his dream had drifted away, the name had stuck. That had to mean something, he thought to himself. He made a note to look up the name later. Maybe he would ask Thalia, if there was any chance she knew anything about it, since it was her last name and all.

"Okay, thank you." He said quietly, staring at his hands in his lap. The nurse still looked unsure about something, but she just nodded and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Percy rubbed at his temples and tried to think. There was something big he was missing, something huge, but it was as if it had just... vanished. It bothered him, but he wasn't sure what he could do about it. 

For a scary moment, the same feeling he had with his dream began to creep into his actual life, but he was able to clear away most of the fogginess. Pieces of his life came back to him, and suddenly he facepalmed. Of course the nurse had been nervous, she was only taking care of the son of one of the richest men in New York, if not the entire world. Her entire career could have been at stake if he said anything about her service quality. Not like he ever would, or ever had, but there was always the possibility. The possibility that he could be a ruthless asshole who abused his privileged. That same possibility had robbed him of most friendships, and definitely most romances.

Speaking of romances, especially past ones, he wondered if Annabeth was going to visit. He didn't want to interrupt her studies, but he knew that if she was in the hospital, he would drop everything to go visit her, even after breaking up. Rachel had probably sent him a thousand worried texts, and he realized that he didn't know where his phone was. There was nothing next to his bed, and he regretted letting the nurse go without finding out more about his situation.

He leaned back into the bed, and waited for his family to show up. There was still a fogginess about how he had ended up in the hospital, but he figured he would probably get answers soon. He stared up at the ceiling, and killed time by counting the ceiling tiles, occasionally sneaking glances at the setting sunset outside the window. He had a feeling like his world was about to change, and he smiled. A massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he breathed in deeply. For some reason the world felt slightly foreign to him, but he was ready to meet it head on. When he got out of the hospital, he was going to make the most out of the life he had been given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it has come to my attention that I may have killed Jason on the day before his birthday. Whoops! I promise to make up for it in the next few chapters. Maybe. Well, slight spoiler, but as you might be able to tell, the rest of the story is Percy trying to save him from certain death and well... it might not go according to plan on the first try. 
> 
> What AU do I want to do?
> 
> Yes.


	21. A New Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new world opens up, and people react to Percy's incident.

Annabeth clicked on the lamp on her bedside table, casting the room in its dim yellow glow. She took a seat at her desk chair, swiveling around to face her friend, who was sitting on the bed, a half empty can of soda clutched between her hands. She put a comforting hand on her friend’s knee, and spoke in low tones.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Her friend had called her earlier, freaking out about something that Annabeth couldn’t quite understand. She had heard the word ‘sister’ mentioned once or twice, alone with the word ‘pregnancy.’ A long list of possibilities flowed through her mind, and she knew she needed to be cautious going ahead. At worst, it was a minor squabble between siblings. At worst, something might have happened to her sister. 

Drew wasn’t the first person Annabeth would have normally chosen for a friend, but once Annabeth had gotten past the shallow exterior of dating guys just to break their hearts, there was a surprisingly spirited person beneath. She was the first person in London to reach out to her, although Annabeth knew it mostly had to do with the fact that they were both Americans in a new place. 

Drew was also considerably wealthy, not as much as Annabeth’s family, of course, but enough to where Annabeth didn’t need to worry that Drew was hoping to get something out of her. Their parents were also in completely different fields, while Athena dominated the teaching and hobbyist worlds on a global scale, Drew’s mother owned a successful line of skin care and makeup. Actually, her family was closely linked to Piper’s mom, Aphrodite. There was almost no way that Annabeth could see Drew taking advantage of her, which she had unfortunately had several bad experiences with in the past. People became her friends so they could borrow some cash, or to get a chance to give her mother a pitch for their new idea. Annabeth had already been embarrassed too many times, and now she took precautions. 

Her friend sniffled, and brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. She looked up, and suddenly Annabeth could see the redness in her eyes, contrasted by the light of the lamp. 

“It’s… It’s my sister. She called me the other day and…” She trailed off, gripping the soda can harder, leaving small divots in the metal, her dark red nails contrasting against the bright yellow aluminum. 

“She…” Annabeth said, trying to get her to continue.

“Listen, what I’m about to say is personal, okay? You can’t tell anyone I told you, she would kill me if I said anything.”

“I swear, you know I keep my word.”

Drew nodded and wiped a forming tear from her eye.

“My sister just called me, and she was, like, freaking out. I’ve never heard her like that before, ever. Apparently her and her husband were trying for a baby, but… but it never happened. So one day, she goes to her doctor to see what's wrong, and… She can’t.”

“She can’t?”

“She can’t have kids! The doctor told her that she was infertile. Apparently she has a hormone deficiency that's like, super rare, and she can’t get pregnant.”

“And that’s why you were crying?”

“No. It’s- well… my sister called me and she was crying, and then I started crying because I knew how much she wanted to start her own family, and then she asked me something. She asked me to have a baby for her.”

“She wants you to be a surrogate?”

Drew nodded slightly, and looked away. Annabeth knew that there was more to the story.

“And you said yes?” She guessed, hoping that she wasn’t too off base.

More tears formed in Drew’s eyes, and her face scrunched up.

“I don’t know why, but I said yes, and then she was so happy, and she started making all of these plans, and then.... I feel like, I don’t know, I just feel like I got brushed to the side, like she wasn’t even listening to me after I said yes. That was all she wanted, you know? Once she got that, she was already talking about how she would allow me, yes, she used the word ‘allow’, like I some fucking dog or whatever, to wait until after I got my degree, and I don’t know. I don’t know what I should do. I know her, I know this is the way she does things. She’s headstrong and she always gets what she wants, but I don’t know if this is what I want. Am I… Is it bad for me to say no? Can I take it back without being a terrible person?”

Annabeth took a moment to take the information in. It was a heavier topic than she had been expecting, and she was expected to give good advice. The daily drama aspect threatened to drag up some of her past, which she wasn’t a big fan of lately, but Drew seemed desperate for an answer, so she took a deep breath and tried her hand at the problem.

“Okay, well, first off, thank you for trusting me with this. I know that this is a big deal, so I’ll try to give it my best. I think… the first thing you need to ask yourself is, do you want this? You’d be helping your sister fulfill her dream, but there are a lot of risks involved. Have you thought about everything that could happen?”

“I’ve tried thinking about some things, but I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it. Why? What do you think might happen?”

Annabeth hesitated, and Drew huffed at her.

“You can tell me, I’m not a little kid. I won’t be offended.”

“Well, and this is just pure hypothetical, what happens if your sister died? Would you take care of the baby? Would her husband? Who would get parental rights? What happens if, god forbid, you miscarried? What would that do to your relationship with your sister? I mean, what happens if you get attached to the baby? I know it might seem far away now, but when you actually give birth to a child, are you really going to be okay with giving them away? I know a lot of this is just for the sake of argument and maybe you’re confident that you and your sister can handle it, but family stuff has a tendency to get complicated. Fast. It’s different than with other people, it gets personal almost immediately. People will start to take sides based on past events, maybe even ignoring the present stuff all together. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe everything would go well, but I’ve seen families tear themselves apart over less.”

Drew seemed to take a moment to reflect.

“I guess you would know, huh? About the family stuff?”

Annabeth laughed a little.

“Yeah, I would know.” Past arguments with her mother and siblings popper into her head. Her family had a reputation for being volatile, and surrounded by other volatile families. During the banquets and charity events the Twelve insisted on throwing constantly, she had found a solace in slipping out with Percy, Thalia, even Luke, once upon a time, getting out before her mother was too drunk on wine to hold snide comments back. Annabeth always wondered how their parents remained such close business associates when in private, it seemed like they didn’t even like each other. She knew for a fact that Athena hated Poseidon's guts, citing some incident from over two decades ago.

“I don’t know.” Drew said, before taking the last swig of soda. “I’m going to try talking to her again, hopefully she’ll be calmer and I can get a few words in. Can you-”

Annabeth’s phone rang on the nightstand next to her, and she cursed, moving to turn it off, but stopping as she read the name. It was her mother. Her mother who tended to call only when absolutely necessary.

“Sorry,” She said, turning back to Drew. “I just- I might need to take this.”

“Go ahead,” Drew said, getting up. “I need to throw away my drink. I also need to think about some things.”

As Drew left the room, Annabeth swiped at her phone, answering the call.

“Hello?” She asked, already dreading what might come next.

“Annabeth, hi dear. I was just calling to check on when you might arrive. I need to let the film crews know so they can prep the NDA’s.”

“What? I thought we talked about this. We had a date picked out for next week and everything?”

“Oh, so you haven’t changed your mind even with the news? Well, I can’t say I’m not happy that you are finally over that silly little tryst of yours.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? What does this have to do with Percy?”

Her mother tisked at her, and suddenly Annabeth was back at home, never managing to meet Athena’s lofty expectations. Her mother would tisk at her and ground her if her grades were anything but perfect. Her mother tisked at her whenever she even so much as looked in Percy’s direction. 

“You really haven’t heard? Well, I guess Sally must have put a media blackout on the whole thing, but still. There was a little incident with the boy. Someone just got a little too cocky and tried to make off with him. He’s fine, don’t worry, but he’s in the hospital right now, apparently the wannabe kidnapper gave him a tranq that needs to wear off for a little while. I really would have thought you would have heard. One of your little friends must have known.”

This was what Athena did. She belittled everything Annabeth did, everyone she knew. She never referred to Percy by his name, it was always a snide nickname, sometimes straight to his face. It was never just her friends, it was always her ‘little friends,’ She struggled not to hang up right then, and there, but she knew she had to keep going.

“So, your telling me my friend was just, what? Almost abducted? And you want to know when I’m going to sign an NDA?”

“Honey, this is the season finale. If your not going to sign the release form, I don’t see a point in even coming. As much as I hate the fact that you two used to date, the ratings seem to love seeing you two together.”

“That’s all you care about? Ratings for that dumb show? You didn’t even want to be in it in the first place, Aphrodite had to force you to even appear once!” 

“Well, things change, don’t they? Listen, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity here, and our sales could skyrocket if we play this right. For once, could you just put our differences aside, and do this for me?”

Annabeth wanted to laugh, or scream. She couldn’t decide which, and what came out of her mouth was an ugly mix between the two.

“Are you kidding? You- This has to be a joke right? Hmm? Why would I-”

“You can make one demand.”

“I want an all expense paid trip to Greece. For ALL of my friends.”

There was a huff on the other line, and Annabeth smiled. She might hate her mother sometimes, but she knew exactly when to take a win. For one measly appearance on the show, she would make her mother's pockets bleed, and she would have a damn good time while doing it.

“Fine. After this is over, you can send me the itinerary. But this is a two parter season finale, deal?”

“Deal. I’ll be on the next plane to New York.”

Annabeth hung up the phone, not waiting for her mother to respond. She opened her laptop and pulled up an airline’s web page.

“I didn’t hear the whole thing, but does this mean you’re gonna be on the next episode?” Drew asked behind her. Annabeth groaned and put her head into her hands as she realized what she had just agreed to. She fucking hated The Twelve.

\----

Nico closed the door to his room and breathed out for what felt like the first time in ages. He rubbed his aching shoulder as he flopped on to his bed, opening up his phone to his text messages. 

‘You up?’ He sent to Will.

‘Did you hear about Percy?’ He sent to Thalia.

He put the phone down and got ready for bed. It had been a long day of filming, especially after the news had broken about Percy’s almost kidnapping. He still wasn’t sure entirely what had happened, but he knew that his friend was safe, and not harmed, which was all that mattered to him. The show’s producers had eaten it all up though, poking and prodding him to see if they would get him to tear up.

He glanced back at his phone.

‘Almost done with my shift :)’ Will had wrote back.

‘What happened to Loser Boy.” Thalia texted.

He shook his head.

‘He was kidnapped.” He sent back to Thalia, waiting a few moments before adding, ‘Almost kidnapped.’

His phone rang almost immediately, and he didn’t need to look to see that it was her.

“Yes?” He answered innocently enough.

“What the fuck, Nico? You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Cut the shit, what happened?”

Thalia could pretend she hated Percy all she wanted, but Nico had always known she cared. The three of them had always had a special bond, being that they were the only children of the Big Three. While they had always known and interacted with the other members of the Twelve, Nico had never known a time when he wasn’t hanging out with Percy and Thalia. Before Bianca’s incident, it had always been the four of them, now it was just them three. Despite having no blood connections, he had always considered the other two as his family, and he knew they thought the same, no matter how much they fought.

“It was some guy, a real nut job. He dosed Percy with some drug at a bar and put him in his car. I mean, I haven’t heard the whole thing, but it sounded a little scary. But get this, the guy immediately got into a car crash because he didn’t look as he pulled out onto the street and when the driver he hit came to yell at him, he saw Percy, recognised him from the show, and called the cops. Moron never even made it out of the parking spot.”

“Nico!”

“What? He’s okay! I went to the hospital and everything, and he’s sleeping like a baby. If anything, he’ll do what he always does and try to make some money off of this thing.”

Thalia groaned.

“Oh my god, you’re probably right. Remember that time you broke your arm and he turned it into a four part episode? I guess as long as he’s fine…” 

“Which he is.”

“Still, you shouldn’t scare me like that.” Thalia sighed. “I guess this means that I have to head on down there, huh?”

Thalia had been the first one to leave, heading off to take an internship under Artemis as soon as she was old enough. Nico couldn’t blame her, he had his own plans to take off as soon as Will was ready to go. His phone dinged in his ear, and he pulled back to see he had another message.

‘Heard about Percy, do you need me to stop by?’

He put Thalia on speaker and started typing.

“Do they know who the guy is? Or what he wanted with Percy? I mean, I know he’s made his fair share of enemies over the years, but this seems like a whole new level.”

‘No, you need to go to sleep. I’m fine, just tired of fucking producers trying to get me to cry on camera for the dumb show :P’

“I don’t think so. The guy took off, probably got a cab somewhere. I think the police were looking for him, but they don’t know what he might have wanted. Probably some ransom money?”

“He picked the worst one then,” Thalia said, laughing a little. “Even if he did manage to get away with him, Percy would be rescued by his little mercenary friend. I still can’t believe we don’t know anything about him.”

“Percy won’t tell us shit about him! Or any of them. He just brushes past us with his little death squad and acts like we won’t question him.”

“Sounds about right.”

Will texted him back.

‘Not really sure, but I think Percy woke up! People are buzzing around his room, I think his parents are on their way.’

“Percy woke up. Will just texted me,” He told Thalia.

“Ugh, I guess I’ll go ask Artemis for the time off. I should be there tomorrow.”

“All right, see you later.” Nico said.

“See ya.”

The call disconnected, and Nico sent one last text to Will before putting his phone down.

‘Thanks for the info, I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll let you know if anything comes up, we’ll probably drop by his house tomorrow to check in on him.”

‘Anyone else coming?’

‘Thalia might be coming, but I don't know when she’ll get here. Annabeth is probably raising hell to get here ha.’

‘All right, sounds good. Good night’

‘Luv u.’

He put his phone down beside him and stared out the window. Below him, the city sprawled out below him. He guessed that rich people like his family members choose to live up high because it made them feel powerful, but it only made him feel alone, isolated from the rest of the world in his silver tower. He hated it.

He reached under his pillow, and between the crack where his bedframe met the mattress and pulled out his little memento. A silver bullet rested on his fingertips, the metal cool against his skin, and he drifted to sleep thinking about the adventures he had two years ago. He rubbed the spot on his back, the part that still ached sometimes in the morning or whenever he stretched the wrong way. He wondered what happened to the people he had met, the ones Percy had introduced him to as they worked to stop GAEA, the elite terrorist cell that had reared its ugly head. He had never seen underneath their masks, he wasn’t allowed to, as the group held its secrets close to its chest. He wondered if Percy had, or if he at least had seen underneath the helmet of their leader, who he had been awfully close to.

\----

The small indoor gym was full of the sounds of heavy breathing, panting, and the steady mechanical whirl of the treadmill as it rotated at a steady increasing rate. Jason worked to keep him forn straight, even as tiredness wove its way through his body like a drop of dye in water. He kept his breathing in check even as his lungs screamed at him to stop, but he couldn’t. Not until he had pushed his body to the limit, and then past even that. 

Piper liked to tease him when he got like this, but he needed to vent someway, and they were on standby for entirely too long for Jason’s liking. None of their contacts had reached out to them in weeks, which meant cutbacks needed to be made. Leo’s spending habits would need to be reigned in, and Reyna’s dogs would need to be treated a little bit less like royalty. Jason knew that last one was an impossibility, and had already prepared to find something missing from the safehouse in a few weeks, just so Reyna could pay off a grooming appointment. 

Despite the upcoming cutbacks, things were going well. Leo had made contact with his lost love in Greece a few months back, and Jason already knew where that was headed. As much as he hated to see Leo go, sooner or later the guy would realize that mercenary work wasn’t something he wanted to involve Calypso in. 

Piper and Reyna had been making plans recently, mostly in private, but from what Jason had eavesdropped on, they were going to start their own squadron soon. Hazel and Frank had already split from the group a couple of years ago, but they still kept in contact and met up whenever they were all at base camp at the same time. Camp Jupiter was still doing good business, as it turned out that there was always a use for mercenaries of all make and model.

As much as Jason hated to admit it, things were coming to a close around him, and while he had always known that it would happen, it seemed like just yesterday he was meeting Leo and Piper at training camp. They had all grown up in the Camp, but they had only met at age twelve, when they had all first stepped foot into the path of becoming full fledged killing machines. So, while Jason dwindled away the days around him, he had made plans.

The majority of which revolved around the spoiled rotten brat who Jason couldn’t take his mind off of. When he had first gotten the contract two years ago, the whole thing seemed so absurd. Here he was, the only child of the world’s largest fishing tycoon, asking him and his team to stand against GAEA, a vicious and world renowned former eco-terrorist group, long thought to be dead. Rumors had spread that the group was looking to make a comeback, and Jackson had hired them to check in on those rumors.

What should have been a routine job quickly spiraled into chaos, not only as they realized that GAEA was, in fact, gathering members and weapons, but the teen heir and his friends had demanded they go along for the ride, turning a normal reconnaissance into a firefight with multiple people to protect. It had been close, extremely close, close enough to where one of them, the pale kid with the wide eyes, had been shot in the back, protected only by the bullet proof vest Jason had made them all wear. 

It was stupid, and foolish, and yet somehow it had been the most exhilarating few nights of Jason’s life, as they dove in and out of cover, slowly picking off the remaining agents of GAEA. As much as he hated to admit it, Percy had managed to turn Jason’s opinion of him around, and for a moment, under a moonlit sky, Jason had seen Percy for who he really was underneath the outer shell of a ruthless strategist. He liked that Percy. But then it had ended, and as soon as the job was done, the Percy he had seen that night was gone, and then so was Jason and his team.

The worst thing about it was that Percy didn’t even know Jason’s name. They had been using their code names, and with their headgear, Jason knew that Percy would never recognize him on the streets. It was a bitter pill to swallow, getting so close to knowing someone, only to realize that it would never go any further. But that was in the past. He was eighteen now, freshly emancipated from Camp Jupiter. While he was always welcome back into the Camp, he was now able to set his own rules, his own boundaries. So while the Camp may have prohibited the use of faces and names, maybe… Maybe he could meet Percy again, under a new name, a new contract.

He looked at the phone in the treadmill stand, and slowly eased up on running, the treadmill reacting to his speed and matching him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and winced. He didn’t know when, but for some reason, his head and stomach had been killing him recently. It was annoying him, but it didn’t seem to be anything major, so he let it slide. He picked up his phone and scrolled through the contacts.

The contact, ‘Major Douche’, still sat in his list, and he chuckled as he realized he hadn’t changed the name since the first time he had come into contact with Percy. He had been put off by the other man’s snappish behavior, not yet seeing through the facade, and had promptly put his newest client down as ‘Major Douche.’ His superiors would kill him if they ever found out he had disrespected a client like that, but Jason knew they would never find out. As his finger hovered over the call button, the door to the gym burst open, and he quickly went back to the home screen.

“Grace, look sharp. There are new orders for you from Command.” Reyna said, striding into the room.

“Command is giving me an order? Already?”

While rare, occasionally Command would issue an order to former members. They were always ‘optional,’ Optional in the way that you could either do them, or say goodbye to your relationship with Camp forever, so people usually did them. They weren’t something Command just threw around though. If Command was giving him an order, it was something urgent.

“Yep, got it just now. Jesus, you reek. Go take a shower and then pack your bags. Command wants you in Manhattan by sunrise.”

Jason’s skin crawled as he looked at the manila envelope Reyna handed him, and stared at the plain pale yellow exterior.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Grace. I think you’ll like this one. Well, as long as you don’t screw it up that is! I actually recommended this one for you. You can thank me later.”

Jason opened up the envelope and pulled out the mission statement. He didn’t need to read the fine print about his target, however, as he was already familiar with his smug face. Percy Jackson stared at him, the photo taken from a still of the TV show his family was a part of, The Twelve. Jason had watched a few episodes, but he didn’t get the appeal. He didn’t care about the lives of the twelve richest families in New York, but he had watched some of the episodes that focused on the Jackson family, hoping to get a sense of who he was working with.

What he did care about, however, was the big bold red letters below Percy’s name. PROTECT. He breathed out the air he was holding in, and felt himself relax a little bit, glad that he didn’t just get a contract to kill his former employer.

“Yeah, I thought you would be happy.” Reyna said, smirking slightly. “Like I said, thank me later, but for now, go take a shower. I wasn't kidding about the part where you stink. Your boyfriend’s got himself on someone's shit list, Command wants you to look after him for a few days. That means you'll get him all to yourself for a few days. Just you, him, and that massive ego of his. Good luck, Jace. You're gonna need it.”

He opened his mouth to argue with her that Percy was not his boyfriend, but she was already gone, slipping out the door with a laugh. The worst part? The idea didn’t sound all that bad to Jason, though he would never admit it in a thousand years. 

‘Boyfriend?’ Jason thought. 

‘Yeah, right.’ He smiled to himself at the foolish notion, but he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. For some reason, it just felt… right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, but I needed to change the direction the story was headed. I think it will be a lot more fun, so even though things might get bad, there will always be a bright light at the end of the tunnel.


	22. An Old Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years earlier, Jason and Percy talk.

TWO YEARS EARLIER

JUNE 2010

Jason finished wrapping up the gunshot graze on Leo’s leg, and took a step back to admire his work. The bandage was already dyed a dark red in the center but the bleeding seemed to have slowed down. Leo would be alright, just in pain for a few weeks. Already, he was cracking remarks to the two other people in the small cabin they had chosen to hunker down in, somehow more calm than both of them. To be fair though, Jason thought, one of them had just been shot in the back. Nothing major, thanks to the bullet proof vests they had all been wearing, but he had already seen the angry purple welt that had formed.

The place they had chosen to regroup had at one point been a strawberry farm, Jason learned from the small briefing they had been given. Now, it was a “summer camp” that was mostly used as a safe house for New York missions. The place showed its age, and together they had all decided against staying in the big house on the hill that overlooked the ring of cabins. The place creaked loudly in the wind, and when Piper had tried to take a brave step onto the porch, her foot had gone straight through the rotting wood, putting a permanent stop to any further explorations.

They had chosen one of the inner cabins instead, the interior sparse, save for a few bunk beds, and some drawers for supplies that had turned out to be filled with nothing but mold and a few creepy crawlies. The smell alone had made Reyna slam the drawer shut, and no one else had dared to open another. Jason wasn’t scared of much, but he never wanted to open one of those drawers again.

The pale boy and Thalia stood at the far end of the cabin, hunched together in some secret conversation. Seeing Thalia among the group that had arrived shortly after Percy had made Jason nervous. There was an uncertainty there. While they were siblings, they hadn’t seen each other in so long. Apparently, Zeus, the bastard, had told the world that he had died when he was three years old, and for a while, even Thalia believed it. That was until a year ago, when she had snooped through her father’s document and found a reference to Jason.

While he didn’t know her too well yet, Jason could already admire his sister’s tenacity. Within a week of finding out a vague clue that he might still be alive, she had forced her father into arranging a meeting between the two of them. The meeting had been… surreal, to say the least, but at last they were finally able to sort through some of their family’s troubled past. The main question still eluded them though. Why had Jason been given away in the first place?

There were others in the same boat, Jason knew. Piper apparently was somehow connected to the Twelve as well, but she wasn’t interested in explaining the details. It was, as she so elegantly put it, a “Massive waste of my fucking time.”, she had said, before resuming her royal smack down of Leo as they trained together.

In the end, he and Thalia had simply stayed away from each other on the mission. They didn't want to chance anyone guessing that there was a connection there, no matter how small, and Jason knew from experience how adrenaline and stress made things slip out. 

“Better?” He asked Leo as he lied face down on the mattress, his face firmly planted into a pillow. Leo gave him a thumbs up, and then almost fell asleep, his breathing slowing down to a gentle rhythm. The pain killers were doing their job, and Jason let him rest, although he was a little concerned with how he was sleeping, but Leo probably wasn’t going to suffocate himself. Probably. It at least kept his face hidden.

The screen door to the cabin creaked open, and the blonde girl stormed into the room. She walked over to her friends, and motioned for them to follow her.

“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” She said, her tone controlled but tight.

As she gathered various things from around her and started violently shoving them into her bag, Thalia and her friend exchanged a look.

“Is everything alright?”

Annabeth stopped suddenly, and whipped around to face Thalia.

“No! Everything is not ‘all right’, we just killed a bunch of people! How could anything be ‘alright!’”

“Hey, don’t yell at me for this. First of all, it wasn’t like this was my idea, and second of all, don’t pretend like you are better than this. Don’t act like we don’t all know about what you and Percy have done in the name of ‘saving our family.’”

Annabeth looked stricken, but she continued packing up the few supplies they had brought. As she shoved a first aid kit into her bag, she shook her head.

“This was it. I don’t care anymore. I can’t do this anymore. After this, I’m getting the hell out of New York, and I think you should all do the same. Look at us. Our family has ruined us. The things I’ve done… the things I’ve helped Percy do… No more.”

“Where is he anyways?”

“I don’t know. Don’t care. We were talking over by the mess hall building, and then we started fighting about what happens next. I tried to tell him that I was done, but I don’t think he’ll ever be. Whatever. I just want to go home.”

“Okay, well, we should go get him so we can leave, right?”

“Screw him, I’m not waiting for him any longer. He has his own car, he can get home on his own.”

She pulled the back pack on and Thalia and Nico allowed themselves to be led out of the cabin, the pale kid wincing as he moved. Thalia sneaked a quick wave at Jason, and then the screen door slammed shut, and they were gone. Outside, Jason heard the pale kid speak up for the first time as they rounded the corner of the cabin. His voice floated in through the window that Piper had opened to try to cool down the stuffy cabin.

“Does this mean you guys broke up?”

His question was unanswered, and soon the sounds of the trio walking faded away into the night. Jason turned back to Leo to see if he had reacted in any way to the display, but he was still face down, completely knocked out. He let the other boy sleep.

They weren’t going to spend the entire night, but until Reyna and Piper got back from confirming that there were no stragglers left of the eco terrorism cell they had just routed, they would stay put. They all should have been there, but Reyna had made him and Leo escort the civilians away from the fight after the pale kid had been knocked down. While he was tense at the prospect of them finishing the mission by themselves, he knew that they would be alright.

Eventually, all of them would be on their own, or at least in smaller groups. A group as big as theirs was extremely rare for graduates, and while Jason wouldn’t have minded staying together, he knew the others had bigger aspirations than that.

He walked over to the door, the springs groaning loudly as he opened the screen door, and stepped outside. The summer air was humid and stagnant, but the night was still stunning to look at. The full moon that hung in the sky above him bathed the empty cam around him in its soft white-blue glow. From off in the distance, he could hear the lapping of gentle waves over in the lake that made one of the borders to the camp grounds. He heard the start of a car, and the loud crunch of gravel as it made its way out of the parking lot.

From the sounds of it, there was still one other person in the camp. While the others had just been tag-a-longs, the one who was probably still in the camp was his employer for the time being. Jason still wasn’t sure what to think about the other teen. It was unusual for someone as young as him to hire a group like them out. From what Jason could tell from his two minutes of research, the other boy was almost a year older than him. 

Jason walked slowly through the camp, winding his way past empty cabins, the locked mess hall building, a dilapidated amphitheater, an archery range. He wasn’t sure when the last time the camp had actually been used, but the atmosphere felt… sad. It was as if the camp itself was mourning the loss of its summer inhabitants. 

He walked aimlessly, but before he knew it, the sound of the lakes waves lapping softly on the shore grew louder. The air was cooler near the water, and as he crested the small hill that had been blocking his view of the water, he realized that he had not been the only one that had been drawn to the water.

A figure sat at the edge of the dock that jutted out over the water, staring intently down at the water below. As Jason approached, his normally soft footsteps were amplified by the creaking wood, but Percy made no attempt to see who was behind him. As Jason came to a stop beside him, Percy finally glanced up from the waves.

“Did the others leave?” He asked, his gaze going back down below.

“Yes, a little bit after the blonde one came back to the cabin. She mentioned that you had your own car, and so they didn’t need to wait. She seemed like she wanted to get out of here.”

Percy surprised Jason with a laugh, cruel and harsh. He shook his head at the water.

“It’s got a flat.”

“What?”

“I got a flat on the way here. I asked her for a ride home, but then we started talking about some stuff and… I guess that’s a no, then.”

Jason wasn’t sure what to do. There was clearly a lot of baggage there, and he didn’t feel comfortable approaching that, nor did he care all that much. These rich kids problems were none of his business. That’s why it surprised him when he suddenly spoke up.

“Do you… want a ride home?” He said, regretting it immediately. The last thing he wanted was to spend more time with the other boy. There was something bothering him about how he had reacted to the bloodshed of the firefight from earlier. While the other three friends had shown clear signs of disgust and distress, Percy was… stone faced. He watched as Jason’s group cut down people with disinterest, as if he was already certain of the outcome, and already bored with the spectacle in front of him.

It had taken Jason years to get used to the brutality that his job required. There were some things that human beings weren’t meant to get used to, and he felt like excessive violence was one of those things. He did his job because he had to, because the world needed its monsters taken care of, and it might as well be him who did the deed. So why was this spoiled rich kid seemingly able to handle violence without any issues? The most immediate thought that crossed Jason’s mind was psychopathy, but he had seen the way Percy had reacted when the pale boy had been hit with that stray bullet. He reacted, emoted at times, but it was like a switch.

Like now, Percy looked surprised. For the first time since Jason had approached him, he finally turned his full gaze to Jason, finally drawn away from the water.

“You’d give me a ride home?”

Jason nodded.

“I mean- you technically still are our employer. The job isn’t done until you decide it is.”

“Then the job is over. Don’t worry about me, I can get home on my own. I’ll just-”

He pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen aggressively. 

“Shit. My phone doesn’t have any signal. There goes getting a tow truck.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and rubbed his forehead.

“I can still-”

“No.”

Jason held his hands up in surrender. If the guy really wanted to walk in the dark to the nearest gas station, it was his prerogative. 

Jason leaned against one of the posts at the end of the dock, and stared out at the water, trying to see what it was that entranced Percy so much. He could admit to himself that watching the moonlit waves rock back and forth was slightly hypnotic, but he had always been restless.

“Do you guys do this kind of stuff often? Killing people, I mean?”

Jason froze, caught off guard by the sudden question. He shifted, a little uncomfortable with the subject matter.

“Pretty much. We offer other services as well, but it seems like if people seek us out, it's because they have someone on their hit list.”

“How many people do you think you’ve killed? If you had to guess.”

“What? I mean- I’ve never really thought about it. I’ve been doing missions for the last four years, so… a lot? It’s not like I keep count or anything.”

“I do.”

Jason tore his gaze from the waves and stared at Percy.

“What?’

“I keep count of everyone that’s died because of me. I mean, not like you. I haven’t actually directly killed anyone, but… I’ve done things. If my family has a problem, I deal with it. Whatever it is.”

Jason scoffed and turned to go. He was almost insulted by how Percy could even imply that they were on the same level. He had no idea how much Jason struggled to sleep sometimes, the flashes of gore and brutality that plagued him if he had too much time to himself.

“You don’t have any idea how dark this world can be,” He said, already walking away when Percy spoke again.

“Did you hear about the Kronos Incident? It was all over the news last August.”

Jason stopped in his tracks. He had heard of the incident, but he wasn’t sure what it had to do with the boy sitting behind him.

“What of it?”

“What do you know about it?”

Jason rolled his eyes, and tried to recall what he could from the few headlines and things Piper had told him. She was a lot better at keeping up with the world, and she had been pretty gripped with the story for a few weeks.

“Some company pretty much imploded? Apparently their stockholders all pulled out abruptly or something? Something happened to one of their employees, I think. Not sure. Why?”

As he turned to face Percy, he was stunned to see how crushed the other boy looked. There were no tears, but he looked like someone who had just gotten a terminal health diagnosis.

“That… was us. Me and Annabeth.”

“What are you talking about? It had nothing to do with you.”

“It had everything to do with us. It was four fucking years of dealing with the worst people you can think of, four years of depraving ourselves so we could deal with a plan years in the making. The Kronos Group was hellbent on taking over the Twelve. Everything we had, they wanted. To be honest, they got pretty damn close.”

“How could they take over all of those companies? Aren’t there anti monopoly laws for pretty much that exact reason?”

“They would have bastardized everything into multiple groups. The Titans already had everything in place to avoid anything like that getting in their way.”

“What the hell? What do you know about the Titans?”

The Titans were the biggest source of problems for Camp Jupiter. They were a shadow group of influential monsters fixated with ruling the world as they saw fit. Almost two-thirds of Jason’s missions involved them in some way, but he wasn’t expecting them to pop up here.

“I think if you look into it, we work for the same cause, you and I. The Titans are causing headaches for more people than you think.”

“What does this have to do with Kronos?”

“They went under because the Titans pulled their funding. They were ready for Kronos to become their crown jewel, under a new protege they had been training. When he was gone, they let it all come crashing down.”

“Gone? What happened?”

“We happened. Annabeth and I finally tracked him down, and we had a talk. Luke wasn’t expecting what we showed him. Years of work of sabotaging his plans under his nose, pinning him into a corner he never even realized he was in. When we showed him what he was dealing with, we left.”

“Still not seeing what this has to-”

“I did something else. Annabeth went ahead to take a phone call, and I… I betrayed our plan. I reached into my bag… and pulled out a gun.”

“You shot him? I thought you said you hadn't killed anyone.”

“I didn’t shoot him. I’m not dumb. Doing that would have brought security down on top of us. I gave him the gun. I gave him an ultimatum. If he made the right call, he could fix everything. I told him about what the Titans were planning on really doing, how they were affecting the world. If Kronos was gone… if he was gone, we could fix things. I promised him that I would make sure that a few million people didn’t suddenly lose their jobs, that I would prevent the next Great Depression.”

“You… you made him kill himself?”

“I gave him the option. He could trust me and I’d handle things when he was gone, or he could live his life as a puppet for the Titans. I promised him changes for things within the Twelve, I promised to make it better. He pointed the gun at me first. He called me a monster. But then he realized that I was right. He was powerless to stop them, always had been. He was manipulated from the start. I gave him the freedom to choose, and he chose.”

“And did you keep your promises?”

“I don’t know, did you notice the economy shutting down? No, I didn’t either. Of course I kept my word. I may be a monster, but I’m not heartless. I wouldn’t have lied about something like that.”  
Percy looked so tired. He slouched against the wooden pole next to him, and continued on.

“He wasn’t the first person whose life I ruined, and he wasn’t the last. He was the final straw though, between me and Annabeth. After that, we stopped working together. She started focusing on getting away from all of us. I can’t blame her, honestly.”

Jason didn’t know what to say. While he had discounted Percy at the beginning, it did start to sound like he knew what he was talking about. For a moment, Jason wanted to ask for more information, learn more of the boy’s secrets, but he didn’t. He could see how much it affected Percy to talk about it, and he was reminded of himself. Maybe Percy was right, and they did work for a similar goal. Maybe they did have things in common.

“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?”

Percy guffawed.

“Really? I fucking bare my darkest secrets out and that’s all you have to say? Are you kidding me? No, I don’t want a ri-”

A lone howl cut through the night air like a knife, and Percy tensed up. He had the decency to look sheepish as he glanced up at Jason.

“A ride would be nice.”

“Offer rescinded.”

“What! You just heard that too! Do you want me to get eaten or something?”

“Well, I just remembered that you ended the job. Nothing I can do now.” He shrugged his shoulders and was moved like he was going to turn away again.

Percy huffed and nodded to him.

“Fine, then I hire you again for a ride home, how does that sound?”

“I refuse.”

“Asshole!”

Jason laughed. Percy’s little temper tantrum was amusing, and he had a feeling the other guy didn’t let others see him like this very often. Before, Percy was curt and well mannered, the model image of someone of his status. Now, he was flustered and alive. For the first time, Percy was more than just a facade. He was a real person, who could feel pain, who could get annoyed. For the first time, Jason actually liked being around him.

“I’m just fucking with you, Come on, we can get going if you’re ready.”

Percy stopped, and glared at him.

“Oh, I bet you think you’re hilarious, don’t you? Well, ha ha, very funny. I’m ready to get the hell out of this dump.”

Jason expected the ride home to be in silence, but once again, Percy surprised him. As he drove through the night, Percy told him more tales of what he had done. He was open about his ruthlessness, and Jason made a mental note to check in on some of the facts about what Percy had told him. If it was all true, then Percy had actually been a massive help in the fight against the Titans. If nothing else, Jason could at least appreciate that about him.

"Why do you have such a vendetta against them anyways? I mean, I get it, they're a bunch of assholes, but why even bother?"

The car was silent for a moment, and Jason was worried he touched a nerve.

"Let's just say, I've seen the kind of people who would take over if the Twelve were to fall. I'll be the first to tell you that the Twelve are far from perfect, in fact, I'll just go ahead and say that they fucking suck. But- People like the Titans, and even the people above them, they are the best that we have right now. Maybe some day that will change, but until I can take control of my father's companies, I mke sure that they stay on top."

"Are there even people above the Titans? I don't even know what the Titans look like."

"I do. Most of the are pretty ugly. I've only ever heard snippets of things, but I've caught enough to figure out that the Titans aren't the upper limit to how shitty people can be. There are people in this world so powerful they can make moves so big you don't even realize they happened. They can fundamentally change the way the world works if they want to, but they choose to stay in the shadows. After the Titans, they're next on my hit list."

"Hold on, you've seen a Titan? I thought they stayed in their little caves or whatever?"

"Is that really that surprising to you? Yeah, I've met a few. Most wanted to kill me for messing up their plans, but Prometheus was like... kind of nice? He was a bit of a pill, but I think he's kind of left the scene."

"You've met them! What the fuck, the Camp would literally kill to get information like that. What the fuck is your life?"

Percy shrugged in the passenger seat and smirked. 

The rest of the ride was uneventful, but Jason kept glancing over at Percy, still in disbelief at the other man. If his opinion of him was shifting before, it was totally swapped now, and Jason could begrudgingly admit that he was a little impressed. Not that he would ever tell him, of course, but he could admit it to himself.

When Jason pulled up to the front of the building, Percy hopped out and made his way over to the driver's side window. He tapped on the glass and Jason rolled it down.

"Thanks for the lift. Here, for the trouble."

Percy handed him a wad of cash so big that Jason's hand dropped from the weight of it as Percy passed it to him.

"You've just been carrying this much money on you for the entire day?"

"Yeah? Is it enough? I can get more if-"

"Are you kidding me? This is more than I make in a year! What the hell?"

Percy shrugged and stepped away from the car.

"That's a you problem," He called back as he made his way towards the front entrance.

Jason shook his head, and stared at the enormous amount of money in his hands. What just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is a bit of a bad person in this new timeline and Jason loves a bad boy.


	23. A Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There ain't no party like a 'Almost got kidnapped' Party.

Percy splashed the cold water against his face, shutting off the tap as he wiped stray beads of water away with one hand. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, sea green eyes meeting his gaze. Ever since he had gotten back from the hospital, something was… off. It was as if… he didn’t quite recognize the person who stared back. Something was off, and it was driving him crazy that he couldn’t get the feeling to go away. He dried his face off with a towel, and then quickly exited the bathroom. He didn’t like to look at himself for very long, it only heightened his unease.

Outside the restroom, the small, but almost assuredly absurdly expensive, get together his mother had planned still spun on. He had always hated parties like this, but he figured that if his parents were bleeding money that meant it wasn’t being hoarded away somewhere else. Light streaked into the large penthouse, and Percy checked his watch. It was only 11, which meant that it had been less than 24 hours since someone had tried to kidnap him. Nico and Thalia were talking away in a corner, a whole plate of horderves between them. They saw him looking and waved him over.

As he made his way to them from across the room, he looked around at the other people who had come. Apollo never missed a party, not even one for a recent kidnapping victim. Athena had surprised them all by showing up, which gave Percy a very obvious hint that Annabeth was likely on her way. He knew she had probably worked out some kind of deal in exchange for appearing on the show for however long she was going to stay, and he smiled. He hoped she didn’t hold back with her mother. 

Zeus had opted out of coming, giving a half baked excuse of an important meeting with some investors, but Hera had come in his stead. Percy avoided her. He wasn’t the target of her hatred like Annabeth was, and Hera had provided him with some good information in the past, but he didn’t want to test those waters. Truth be told, Hera creeped him out with her hardcore fundamentalist values. She outwardly despised Thalia for being anything less than a debutante, and when the news had published a picture of Percy on a random meetup with some guy, she had offered the services of a very expensive ‘retreat’ that could help with ‘whatever Percy was going through.’ 

‘Fuck that,’ Percy thought. He made sure to give her a wide berth since then, and tried to ignore her when he could. 

Some of his other friends were in attendance as well. He could see Katie talking to Travis and Conner outside on the balcony, all three laughing quietly over something said in whispers. Clarisse was by the snack table, her arms crossed as she stared around the room, and Percy looked away to avoid meeting her glare.

“Hey, Percy.” Thalia greeted him.

“Hey guys.”

Nico took a drink out of his glass.

“Hey, Percy, I- Oh no. I think this was- oh no!” Nico slurred dramatically, half collapsing in Thalia’s arms. She gave him an unimpressed look and dropped him a few inches.

“Thalia, no!”

“Not funny, Nico.” She said, pulling him to his feet. Percy looked around to see if anyone had overheard, but luckily the adults were too engaged with whatever conversation they were in to notice, or care.

“Come on, it's been long enough where we can joke about it right?”

“It was last night.” Thalia said.

“Yeah, like I said.”

“You’re impossible,” Percy said, shaking his head.

“Come on, don’t tell me it wasn’t a little funny.”

“It really wasn’t.”

“Whatever. No one around here appreciates my humor.” Nico said, taking another sip from his glass.

Thalia rolled her eyes and turned to Percy.

“Seriously, how are you? Are you doing all right?”

Percy took a moment to think, debating over how much he should tell them, or rather, how much he could tell them without them freaking out. Against his better judgement, he decided to share a little bit.

“Mostly fine, I think. I- well, I don’t really remember anything from the past few days. It’s all a big blur, and I only get flashes of things. If I didn’t see the security camera footage, I probably wouldn’t be able to even say what happened.”

“Wow, that sucks. If it helps any, I don’t think anything important happened, at least, nothing worth mentioning to us, or anything.”

“Thanks, but you know how I am. I probably left something important out that's going to bite me in the ass at some point.” Percy said, laughing a little bit. Thalia gave him a weird look, but it passed before he could really get anything out of it.

“Damn, I guess that means you forgot that money you owe me right? Remember, the money you borrowed from me two days ag-”

Thalia punched Nico in the stomach, stopping him mid sentence as he hunched over, wheezing. 

“Still not funny.” She said.

“I wasn’t even jokin-”

“Seriously, Nico, knock it off.”

Nico looked annoyed, but opted to stop talking out of fear of another punch. 

“Fine, I’ll just take my loss and move. Don’t say I never did anything for you, Percy.”

“Yeah, thanks, or whatever. Look, I wanted to ask you guys if Annabeth said anything to you about when she’s going to get here?”

“Uhh, yeah, she just texted me, she said, ‘Look behind you dumbass.’”

Percy whirled around to see nothing but empty air, giving Thalia the middle finger as he realized he had been fooled.

“She hasn’t said anything, I think she’s still in the air. She did have to catch a last minute flight, so I guess she’ll get her before too long.”

“You could have just said that,” Percy said, running a hand through his hair. He stopped for a moment, because even that felt off to him somehow. His hair felt a bit longer to him, not enough to really make a difference, but for a moment he thought his hair should have been a little shorter.

“You okay, Percy?” Thalia said, her eyes raised.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just- I just got a headache.”

She didn’t look like she believed him all the way, but she didn’t press the issue further, which he was grateful for. The last thing he needed was to explain to them that he was beginning to think he was losing it.

“Hey, so Percy, I don’t know if you have any plans, but a few of us were thinking of going out to a new club tonight. Did you want to join in? I’ve only heard a few things, but Ive heard it’s pretty cool.”  
Percy thought for a second. On one hand, he wasn’t sure if he should do anything to exacerbate his headache, as he should probably take it easy for the next few things. On top of that, his aggressor was still out there, and they still didn’t know if he was alone, or part of a bigger group. It would be a good idea to stay still for a little while, until the guy was caught.

On the other hand, he was already beginning to go crazy with his thoughts, and the idea of nothing but time to himself made him want to scream. The last thing he wanted to do was reflect on the little changes in himself he kept noticing. Beyond that, he needed to uphold the image he had built over the years. He needed to show that he wasn’t scared, that he wasn’t going to go away any time soon.

“Sure, that sounds fun.”

Thalia shook her head at them.

“Really, Percy? You just got kidnapped, and you’re already thinking of going out?”

“First of all, I almost got kidnapped. There’s a big difference. Secondly, I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want right now is to be surrounded by people coddling me. Yes, what happened was scary, and I’m incredibly lucky, but I can’t just give up my life because of some crazy person.”

“Look, I know you’re worried, but I’m going to be surrounded by people, and you know that I don’t even like clubs anyway. I’ll probably leave within thirty minutes, way too short of a trip for anyone to even know I’m there.” He continued.

Thalia rolled her eyes, but nodded.

“Fine, but don’t think for a second that I’m going. If you two get kidnapped, someone needs to be able to say ‘I told you so,’”

“It’s great that you have your priorities in check,” A female voice said from behind Percy, and this time when he turned, Annabeth was actually standing behind him.

“Hey, Percy. It’s good to see your judgement is still as bad as ever.”

“Annabeth! I thought you were still on the plane?”

“I told Thalia I landed like a half hour ago?”

“She neglected to tell me that.”

“Guilty as charged. Get over here, you!” Thalia said, pulling Annabeth into a quick hug.

Nico whistled appreciatively as he took in Annabeth’s outfit. She was wearing a red two piece suit, and her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. She smiled, and took a moment to pose for a second.

“Thank you, thank you. I figured if I was going to bother showing up for this, I might as well look like a million bucks. I even got Mother to pay for it all. I guess she’s just excited for me to stop looking like a ‘sad sack of depression’ because she saw me in sweats once.”

“Speaking of which, where’s the camera crew?” Nico said, looking around the penthouse.

“Gone for the moment, but they’ll probably be back soon. I think Mom told them to fuck off for a little bit. Oh, you know what? Add that to being a reason why I can go out tonight. We’ll have the camera crews watching over us the entire time.”

“You don’t need to convince us, you need to convince your parents.” Annabeth pointed out, taking one of the mini sandwiches from the platter between them all.

“Are you kidding, my Mom is practically begging me to get out of the apartment. She thinks some fresh air will do me some good.” Percy said.

“Well, I’ll be sitting this one out. My mother wanted me here so we could have some drama, but she never said that I need to spend all my time around you, so I’ll probably take a camera crew out to a charity event or something, get a group some exposure, you know? Thalia, do you want in?”

“Anything beats joining these two for a night,” Thalia said, grinning at the annoyance on the boys' faces.

“What are you talking about? We’re not that bad, right?” Nico said, a fake hurt look on his face.

“Nico, all you do is fawn over Will, you don’t even dance or anything-”

“I’m not a dancer!”

“Percy disappears after like an hour, which means he either got bored or is off making out with some stranger in the corner, and let’s be honest, I think he’s kissed like three people, max. Seriously P, you need to let people know when you go home, it gets annoying looking for you for half an hour and then just realizing you fucked off.”

“I can never find you guys!”

“So, yes, Annabeth, I will gladly join you tonight.” Thalia finished.

“Great! I’ll text you the details later. In the meantime, I need to go before anyone on the crew gets word I’m already here. Percy, I think they want us to do a dramatic meeting or something? Please, for me, just act natural, I’ll provide the emotion. Seeing you try to act is a little sad.”

“You just say that because your mom made you take professional acting lessons. I don’t think other people notice, right guys?” He huffed, looking at the other two for backup.

Nico and Thalia suddenly found something interesting elsewhere in the room to look at, keeping their gaze away from Percy.

“Come on, I can’t be that bad, right? I even got that movie offer a couple of years ago!”

“Percy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you got that gig because you’re hot and rich. I don’t think they did it because of your acting ability.” Nico said.

“I don’t have to prove anything to you guys. I know what I’m capable of.” Percy said, folding his arms in annoyance.

After a few more jabs and exchanges, Annabeth left the party, and the party slowly started to die down. Thalia was the second to go, begrudgingly leaving as Hera called out to her.

“Shoot me now.” Thalia said to Nico and Percy as she turned to leave. They waved to her and Percy felt a little bad for her. He knew how much she hated her step-mother, and she was only staying in town because of him. As much as they liked to tease each other, he considered all of them his closest friends, almost like cousins.

“Speaking of shooting things, I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to do a photo shoot for some of the mortuary stuff. Apparently, my skin tone is perfect for that dead body look. I think my dad almost shed a tear when he saw that I was doing something related to his business. He’s such a weirdo.”

“Yeah, he’s the weirdo here.” Percy said, giving Nico a look.

“Are you feeling okay? Like, I’m not complaining, but you’re more animated that I’ve seen you in a long time. Did getting knocked out finally give you your personality back?”

“You make it sound like I was hit or something. I don’t think a tranquilizer is capable of anything like that.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Like I said, I’m not complaining. Listen, I’ll come pick you up tonight at like 9, okay? You better not wimp out on me.”

“Yeah, whatever. This club better be worth it.”

“It will be. Just you wait, it’ll blow your mind!”

“You said you haven’t even seen it.” Percy said.

“Yeah, but from what I’ve heard, it’s incredible.”

“Who all is even going?”

“Well, so far it’s me, and… you. Everyone else backed out.” Nico said, having the decency to look sheepish.

“You said it was you and some friends!”

“Because I knew you weren’t going to come if I told you no one else wanted to come. Will was supposed to come, but he got put on another late shift tonight. Come on, you can’t back out now, you already promised. Please?”

“I didn’t promise anything, but… Fine. Maybe when we’re there we can make you some new friends.”

“I don’t think you’re one to talk.” Nico said, walking away before Percy could retort.

“Asshole.” Percy said to himself, and he frowned as he realized what he had gotten himself into.

A thought still nagged him, no matter how much he tried to put out of mind. A name that refused to budge from his train of thought whenever he got more than a few moments to himself. He had missed his chance to ask Thalia if she had known any one who matched earlier, so he needed to make sure he caught her again before she left the city. He wanted to be face to face with her when he asked, to make sure he caught anything that he might have missed over the phone or through text. No matter what, he told himself, he was going to get to the bottom of the mystery that was stuck in his head.

Who the hell was Jason Grace?

\----

Jason drove through the night, making it to Manhattan in record time. He turned up the air in his car, already starting to feel the summer heat in his car. He had wanted to take his motorcycle, but as soon as he had reached for the handle, his hand jerked away. A strange sensation had come over him, and for a moment he felt as if he had recently had a bad experience with a bike. He hadn't, of course. He was always careful when he rode, but he couldn't shake the feeling, and so in the end he had simply taken a car. Now, he was glad for his hesitation, and the heat would have been even worse without air conditioning.

Incidents like those were happening more and more. Thoughts would connect to an idea, latch on to key phrases and images, but it was as if whatever he was thinking of was on the tip of his tongue, just out of reach. He had passed by the shooting range on his way to grab a car, and the pop of a gunshot made him nearly jump out of his skin, and without knowing what he was doing, his hand flew to his head, rubbing at a spot in the middle of his forehead. It was mostly small stuff like that, but Jason was getting worried that it might impact him in the field.

Along with the small incidents like that, there was something else. Something that took up much more real estate in his mind. A name that floated freely through his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to think of other things. He could account for the name on his recent assignment, as it was the name of his newest charge, but he knew it was something more. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Percy Jackson's name out of his head. 

While he had made good time, it was already late, the sun having disappeared under the horizon a little bit ago. As he made plans for where he was going to stay while he searched for Percy throughout the city, he realized that he didn't even know where the other guy lived. Families like his tended to live in utmost secrecy, so he would have to do some digging before he saw Percy face to face.

He could simply... call. The phone in the drink holder next to him was tempting to use, but he decided against it. If anything, it would be good practice to try to find Percy's address. It would let him get a rough estimate of how public the information was, and if he needed to worry about anyone showing up there. Still, maybe he should send a message, he thought.

The light in front of him suddenly turned red, and he braked hard to avoid running it. Luckily, no one had been behind him, and he looked to see what had happened. Without warning, the air around him was full of red and blue lights and an incredible amount of high pitched sirens as a fleet of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks made their way down the street he had almost crossed. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach, as he got the horrible feeling that somehow, Percy was involved in this somehow.

Before he could make up his mind on what he was going to do, two vehicles speed in front of him, going the opposite way the police cars had been. The first car was a black Cadillac that looked like it was fresh off the lot, its exterior shiny and clean. The second was a motorcycle, a masked rider dressed completely in black leather with white trim.. Without thinking about it, Jason turned to follow them, keeping a moderate distance away from them. Somehow, he felt like this would lead him to Percy, despite his head telling him to go the other way, see what had attracted all of the emergency services. He didn't know what was going to happen, but whatever happened, something big was coming, whether he was ready or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is a very important meeting for Percy.


	24. A Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Nico have a fun, calm night out on the town.

The rest of the day was a miasma of meetings and doing talking heads for the show. The producers kept pushing him to talk about his incident, and for once, Percy was glad he had no memory of the incident, because it meant he wasn’t even lying when he told them that he wouldn’t be able to. The only piece of evidence they had was the security camera footage of the bar, which the police had custody of while the investigation was ongoing.

The footage didn’t reveal much, as he was only barely visible in the corner of the screen. The blurry screen the police officer had shown him hadn't helped fill in any details either, and he had watched as he twiddled his thumbs in a booth, obviously waiting for someone. Eventually, someone, out of view of the camera’s field of vision, slid into the side across from him. They sat with him for a few moments, and then slid out of the booth, on their way. It was frustrating, not being able to see their face, but while he didn’t have the memory of being there, Percy was confident he had chosen that seat for that very reason.

The police kept pushing him for information, just like the show runners did, and each and every time he had the same answer.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really remember anything.” He would say as he put on a show of looking scared and nervous. He found that it was a good way to get someone to leave him alone.

After the crew finished filming for his family’s part of the show, he still had some free time before he needed to get ready for Nico’s plans for the night. He killed time the same way he always did, which was to say, he spent most of his ‘freetime’ doing more work. His real work. He made his way through contracts and made sure schedules were still on time. He contacted businesses from across the world, pushing and pulling where he needed to for his vision to be realized. 

He had given up most of his personal life long ago, instead devoting any second he had to spare to making sure he could keep the promise he had made on the eve of his sixteenth birthday. He was aware that his plans were grand, even by his standards, and that Luke probably would have been proud of his progress even just a year ago, but he still pressed on. Lots of things spurned him on. The fate of the world. His own pride. A deep shame. Bitter hatred for the Twelve. It all drove him to staying up late at night, getting up early in the mornings, all to make sure he was on track.

As he finished up his last email to a fishery in Florida, he checked the time, and cursed. He was cutting it close, and he closed his laptop, scurrying around his room in a frenzy to get his things ready. In the end, he settled for a deep blue dress shirt and black slacks. Nothing too fancy, but god enough to get him past any bouncer. He checked the time and cursed again. He stripped out of his clothes as he made his way to his personal bathroom, nearly tripping as he tried to take off his shirt and step out of his pants at the same time. He entered the shower, stepping into the water as he turned on the water, shuddering as cold water came out first. 

He usually liked to take long showers, standing under a hot stream of water did wonders for his aching back after spending hours hunched over a laptop, but he didn’t have the luxury tonight. Far too quickly for his liking, he was done and drying himself off with a soft towel. As he made his way down his body with the towel, he stopped for a second, that feeling of deja vu he had been experiencing lately coming back in full force. He shook his head and finished drying off. 

He stared at himself in the mirror, his naked self staring back at him, and that feeling came back. What was triggering this time, he thought, as he scanned up and down his body. Before, it had been the length of his hair. Now? There was nothing out of place on his skin, the smooth surface just the same as alw-

Wait, he thought. No. that wasn’t the same, was it? 

Smooth skin? Something was off with that, but he didn’t know what. He didn’t have any scars, he had never been one for endangering himself, at least, as far as he could remember. So why did that not ring true to him? It was true. Yet, no matter how many times he thought about it, it wasn’t entirely right. He didn’t have the time for his thoughts, though, and he hurried to get ready. Maybe the intensity of a club was exactly what he needed to get his mind off of this whole thing.

He gave his parents a wide berth as he made his way out of the apartment, giving his mother a half hearted excuse that he was going to Nico’s. He hadn’t entirely been honest when his friends had asked him about how his parents felt about him going out, but he needed this. He made his way to the elevator, and pressed the down button. As he stared at the shiny plates of the elevator door, a scene flicked into his head.

It was quick, not even lasting a single second, but it was him, staring at himself in elevator doors that looked almost identical to the one he was in now, but the arrow in the LED indicator showing that he was headed up in his vision. There was someone else there, beside him, but the door was warped and tarnished, and before he could make out anything about the person, the scene was gone, and he was alone again.

Gods, he was-

God, he was tired of this. It was like it was getting worse. Like it was a warning for something to come. The only thing was, it was a shitty warning, because he had no idea what it was warning him about. He started to have second thoughts about the whole thing, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

‘I’m out front. Black Cadillac. Can't miss it.’ Nico texted him, and without thinking about it, he sent back a thumbs up. Nico was counting on him to have a good time, and he had already promised him he would come.

Nico was a sensitive subject for Percy. Years ago, when Bianca had had her… accident, their relationship had nearly been destroyed as Nico blamed Percy for it, and Percy blamed himself. Nico had been an angry kid back then, and there were times when Percy thought he would lose the other boy’s friendship forever. There were times when he thought he deserved to be in Bianca’s place, instead of her. It had been a slow process, and there had been smaller fights, mostly just misplaced grief and poor communication skills, but somehow, they had made it through.

Nico was like a younger brother to Percy, and he wasn’t going to let him down tonight. If Thalia was the older sister who he was happy to piss off, Nico was the baby brother he needed to protect. 

He crossed the lobby and made his way outside. The summer air hit him all at once, and he let out a silent thank you to the universe that there was no paparazzi out front for once. If he recalled correctly, there was some gala or something happening across town, so they would probably be busy for the night. He wondered if Nico had been aware of this and had planned it that way, but knowing the other guy, it had probably just been dumb luck.

Nico waved to him, half hanging out the window as he beckoned Percy into the car, and Percy bit back a smile as he entered the car.

“You looked like a moron,” He poked as he buckled up, and the driver took off for downtown.

“Well, it takes two to make a pair now, doesn’t it?” Nico jabbed back, smiling as he tapped something on his phone.

“Oh, that reminds me…” Nico said, looking sheepish as he put his phone away. Percy prepared himself for the worst.

“What did you do this time?”

“Nothing! It’s just… well… the camera crew kind of… isn’t coming.” He said, getting quieter as he continued.

Percy was sure his look of disappointment was clear on his face because Nico started doing that thing where he kept talking even when Percy just wanted him to be quiet for a second.

“I know- I know you’re upset, but listen! It wasn’t my fault. I had told them all about our trip, I had everything in place, and then- Listen, come on, don’t look at me like that- as I get to your apartment, they text me, telling me that they were going to film something at Athena’s place or something, so I said- Hey, seriously, stop looking so grumpy- I told them that it was messed up they cancelled on me so late, but they told me I should have waited for them to call before I left anyways so they could get a camera guy in the car even though-”

“Nico, just- it’s fine okay? I get it. Those guys are unreliable, trust me, they’ve bailed on me too. It’s just that I was kind of counting on them to be there to make sure I don’t get kidnapped again, you know?”

Nico hung his head in shame, and nodded.

“Do you want to bail on the whole thing?” He asked, looking up at Percy to gauge his reaction.

Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. On one hand, it would probably be a bad idea to continue on with one of his support systems out of the picture, but on the other hand-

“How badly do you want to go to this place?” He said, already preparing himself for the answer.

“A lot,” Nico said, looking ashamed at himself. “I’ve been trying to get someone to go with me for weeks now, but everyone keeps backing out.”

“You owe me for this.”

Nico’s mood picked up, and he nodded frantically, and his excitement rose.

“Thank you, thank you! I promise, if anyone tries to get you, I’ll give them the old one two!”

“Thanks, Nico.” 

The fact that Nico was wiry thin, and had no experience with fighting went unsaid, just like the fact that Percy was an avid gym goer with several years of self defense and fighting classes under his belt. It was the thought that counted, he thought.

The car slowed to a stop, and Percy realized that they were there. Nico opened the door and Percy slid out behind him, thanking the driver as he closed the door. The building they were next to was nothing out of the ordinary, but Percy could already hear and feel the beat of club music as they got closer to the entrance. The front entrance was wide open, double doors propped open, and together they walked in, a stream of cold air hitting them as they stepped inside.

“No bouncer?” Percy said, leaning close to Nico so he could be heard over the loud music.

“I guess not, I heard they wanted the place packed. Gives it a good vibe, I guess.”

“Hey guys! Welcome to the Trench! Can I interest you in some fun?” A woman in a blue and white uniform asked, holding out two small bags, each holding a single pill in the shape of a heart.

Percy looked at the bags wearily, and was going to shake his head no, but before he could, the bags were pressed into his hand, and the woman was off before he could stop her, talking to some other guest.

“Can I-” Nico started, but Percy cut him off.

“No.” He said, pushing the bags into his pockets. He was going to have that looked at later, maybe he could see what the hell he had just been offered.

The inside of the club was instantly visually striking, and Percy took a moment to take everything in. LED screens lined the walls and ceiling, flashing scenery and fleeting images that were gone before Percy could make them out. Green and blue lights flashed like lightning, illuminating the area around him for a second before cutting out and then back in again. The area was packed with people, all swaying and bumping against each other in beat with the music. 

The beat of the music was all around him, he could feel it in him as the song played its deep bass and melodic vocals. It was a strange song for a club, a remix of an old song from back in the 70’s. The woman singing sounded mournful, and the backing track was full of hums and sounds like crashing waves. He found himself entranced by the song, it’s message instantly connecting with him. Despite the dancing all around him, he felt heavy as the words poured over.

The swaying of the crowd, the beat of the song, the sound of waves, he felt like he was in the ocean, crashing waves all around him. His breath froze in his chest for a second, and he had to force himself to breath normally. He felt like he was drowning, like he was being crushed, and he wasn’t sure what to do.

At some point, Nico had slipped away from him, and he was alone in a massive sea of people. He scanned the crowd, desperate to find a familiar face. He was breathing harder, desperate to be away from all of it, when time seemed to slow down. He looked around, instincts kicking in, alerting him to some unseen force. He scanned the room, but the room moved liked waves, people moving up and down slowly to the music. A chill ran down his spine, and he turned to the left. From across the room, he saw them. A masked figure, standing still as people swayed and moved all around them, staring straight at him.

As if on cue, the masked figure took a step forward, and then another one. Percy wasn’t sure who it could be, but they were focused on him, he was sure of it. Were they someone who was after him? He didn’t want to stay and find out, and he backed away from them. In the blue and green flashing lights, the figure moved like a shark stalking its prey as they slowly gained ground on him.

Percy pushed past people, trying not to be too rough as he made his way through the crowd. He needed to find Nico, but he still didn’t know where he was, so instead he made his way to the wall. There were less people there, so he would have an easier time getting around. He slipped past the final group blocking his way, and suddenly he was standing in front of one of the massive LED screens, its flashing imagery and lights surrounding him. On instinct, he turned around, and he knew he was screwed. THe masked figure was there, watching him as he made his way past the same group Percy had just navigated around. 

As if the universe was screwing with him, the way to the left and right were blocked, the crowd somehow forming a semi circle around them, so Percy had nowhere to run from his mysterious pursuer.

“What do you want?” Percy tried to ask, but the heavy bass and mournful sounding woman drowned him out. The helmet just turned to the side, the figure cocking its head as if it was confused by the action.

“I said, what do you want from me!” Percy said, louder this time, backing up as far as he could as the figure made its way forward. His back hit the wall of LED, and the figure was right in front of him, the lights reflecting off the shiny black helmet. For a second, Percy thought he saw a face, a skull, but it was just the images from the screen, and his breathing quickened. A hand pushed against his chest, pushing him all the way against the screen, and he could feel the heat of the small LED lights as they pressed into his clothes.

A sliver of cold met his throat, and he knew without looking that the masked man held a knife. He tried to look past the man, make eye contact with someone to signal for help, but the more he looked, the more he noticed that everyone else in the club was acting… off. The swaying had grown more violent, and several people hunched over, clutching at their stomachs in agony.

“What’s happening?,” He asked, and the masked man looked over his shoulder briefly, before turning back to him. Percy couldn’t see his reaction with the helmet, but nothing about his demeanor suggested surprise or shock. It was as if he was expecting it, waiting for it, and Percy thought for the first time that something seriously huge must be going on. This wasn’t the work of some deranged fan or some desperate kidnapper looking to make a quick buck. If something had been done to this many people all to get to him, then he must have pissed off the wrong person.

Percy didn’t know what he should do, he didn’t know what he could do. The man seemed to revel in his fright, because he teased the blade lightly across Percy’s throat, the blade threatening to sink into the soft flesh with ease. Percy racked his mind for a solution, but there was only one thing on his mind that he could throw out, and he whispered to the man.

“Jaso-”

A smaller figure crashed into the man, throwing him to the side, and Percy grasped for his throat, making sure the blade hadn’t accidentally cut anything. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized his luck, and then looked to see what happened. Nico got to his feet before the man could, and rushed for Percy, dragging him away and further into the crowd.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Nico cried, and Percy realized just how bad things had gotten. All around them, people groaned in pain and whimpered, some slowly sinking to the floor. Percy looked a man on the floor in the eyes, and bit back a gasp as he saw a dirty gold spreading throughout the schela, completely overtaking the whites of his eyes. He could see that it was happening to others too, their eyes slowly turning gold, and Percy took lead, pushing Nico forward. He looked behind them, desperate to see the helmeted man, but he had vanished into the crowd.

They were in the middle of the dance floor now, and Percy craned his neck to see where the exit was. It was too their right, and he took a sharp turn towards it, trying to slip both him and Nico past the people who were now writhing in pain. Someone grasped on to his arm, another onto his leg, and he shook both off in a hurry, his heart racing. He needed to get out, he needed to get him and Nico to safety away from here. It was a mistake coming out, he knew, and now he was paying for it.

Someone took a blind swipe, and it connected with Nico’s jaw. He winced in pain, and Percy could see several scratch marks on his cheek, but he continued, and together they made their way through the crowd, fending off more hands and blind punches from people desperate from pain. Yells and screams rang throughout the air, and the music was frantic, its heavy beats quickening to the point where Percy couldn’t tell his heartbeat from the music.

Someone collapsed in front of them, seizing on the ground, and the bowl they had been carrying went crashing to the ground, sending several small baggies to the ground. Percy realized with a shock that they were the same bags he currently had in his pocket, the small heart shaped pill they had been given upon entering the club.

“The pills! Something must have been in them!” He shouted to Nico as he ducked under someone falling in front of him. Nico took a step back as someone ran in front of them, arms straight out and shoving all they ran into.

Percy wrapped an arm around Nico and pushed through the final group blocking their way out, disturbed by what he had to do, but he knew they needed to get out as fast as possible.

“Where’s the car?” He said, his head whipping around as he scanned the area, making sure they hadn’t been followed. The masked man was nowhere in sight, but he kept his guard up. The last thing they needed was an ambush.

“There!” Nico said, pointing across the street to where the car was parked. They sprinted across the street, and jumped into the car, scaring the driver so bad he nearly dropped his drink.

“Drive!” Nico said, locking the doors, and without asking, the driver took off, tires screeching as he fled the scene. 

“I’m calling 911,” Nico said. He punched some numbers into this phone, and Percy let him deal with that. He let out a deep sigh and let himself relax a little. He cradled his head in his hands for a second, before shaking it off and looking out the back window.

“Where to?” The driver asked, his face pale with stress.

Percy had prepared for this, knowing that no matter how hard he tried, eventually someone might come after him or his friends like this. He had actually gotten the idea from the Camp he had hired out, the idea of multiple safehouses sounding very appealing as he got further and further into the wrong parts of society.

“The Freshmont Hotel.” He said, giving off the closet one he remembered off the top of his head.

Nico hung up his phone and stared at the blank screen for a second, before turning to Percy.

“What happened?” Percy said, worried about Nico’s reaction.

“They knew already. Before I even told them, they told me that they had received a tip a few minutes ago.” 

“A few minutes ago? But it-”

“Just happened, yeah. Which means, whoever did this- They sent in a tip ahead of time. What the fuck is happening?”

“Whatever it is, I think these have something to do with it,” Percy said, fishing out the two small baggies from his pocket. The heart shaped pills sat in the palm of his head, and he fought the urge to throw them out the window. Whatever they were, they were incredibly dangerous, and he didn’t want them near him, but he needed to get someone to look at them, which he had been planning on doing anyways.

“Where are we going?” Nico asked.

“Safe House nearby. We can hang out there until we see what’s up. There are some supplies there. I just want to get off the streets as fast as possible.”

“Good call, I think when we get there we should- God damn it!”

“What?”

“Look behind us, we’ve got company!”

Percy looked out the rearview window, and cursed. Behind them, on a sleek black motorcycle, the masked rider was behind them, and gaining ground every second.

“Step on it!” Nico said, half draping himself over the middle console to see what was going on up front.

“I can’t get another speeding ticket! They’ll suspend my license!” The driver said, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

“I’ll fucking pay you a whole decade’s worth of pay if you speed up, for fuck’s sake. Step on it!” 

The driver punched the gas, and Percy grabbed the side of the door to settle himself. The man behind them revved his engine, before taking off after them. The sound of sirens filled the air, and for a second Percy was worried they were actually going to get pulled over and get the driver suspended, but he realized the sounds were coming from in front of them. From the front window, he could see an entire fleet of cop cars, fire trucks, and ambulances headed straight towards them, and then zooming past them, clearly not worried about them at all.

The driver punched the gas again, and they sped up even faster. Percy wasn’t sure if he had ver gone that fast in a car before, and certainly not on the streets of Manhattan,

“Turn right!” He said, as they approached their turn. The driver hit the brakes hard, and did an impressive drift around the corner, cutting off an entire lane of cars that had to skid to a stop to avoid hitting them. Horns blared through the air, but Percy didn’t care. The hotel was in front of them, coming up fast, and he yelled out.

“Stop the car!” 

Before the car even came to a complete stop, Percy threw his door open, dragging Nico behind him and through the revolving doors of the hotel. People stopped to turn and stare at them, but he didn’t care about that either. All he cared about was the elevator door at the end of the floor. As soon as they got to the doors, he punched the button, hitting it again and again as fast as he could, desperate for the damn doors to open.

Screams came from behind them, and he knew something was happening behind them, but he didn’t care because the doors opened, and he shoved Nico inside, coming in right behind them. As he hit the button for the floor, and then for the door to close, he got a glimpse of the man standing in the middle of the lobby, a pistol pointed at them.

Time stopped, and Percy stared at the man from across the room. That feeling he had been described as deja vu hit him like a truck, and he gasped. A primal urge tore through him, and without thinking about it, he dug through his pocket, pulling out his wallet that held a key to the room, as well as the room number.

Against everything his brain was shouting at him, every single iota of common sense burning in his head as he made the worst decision of his life, he felt a sense of relief as he stepped out of the elevator, ignoring the yells of Nico behind him. He threw the wallet into the elevator, and Nico shouted at him.

“Percy, what the fuck do you think you’re doing! Get back in the elevator, you fucking moron! Don't you dare do this! You can’t-”

The doors closed, and the panel next to him made small pinging noises as the elevator made its way up the floors to its destination.

He walked towards the man, his steps slow and careful. Everyone else in the lobby had fled the room after seeing the man with his gun, and it was just the two of them. The man lowered his gun just a fraction upon seeing his approach, maybe confused by what he was doing. 

Something had gone unsaid at the club, their earlier meetup cut off by Nico’s intervention. A voice in him that wouldn’t shut up, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. A name, just a single name, with no idea who it belonged to.

“Jason?” He asked the man, hoping that he just hadn’t made the biggest, and most likely last mistake of his life.

The man cocked his head again, slowly to the side, and the gun was raised again. He shook his head, and put his finger on the trigger, aiming the gun straight at Percy’s heart.

A hand reached over the helmet, grabbing it by the rim, and yanked it back so the man was facing the ceiling. The man dropped the gun, trying to reach whoever had grabbed him, and a loud popping sound filled the room, the man’s mask exploding in a fountain of black glass and blood. Percy shielded his eyes from the explosion, feeling bits of glass rain down all around him. When the last of the glass had fallen to the ground with a small tinkling sound, he looked back up at who had saved him.

A young man stood across from him, his blond hair and plain clothing covered in blood. A small scar ran across his bottom lip, and a tattoo with the letters SPQR looked almost burned into his left arm. He was devastatingly handsome, and Percy was stunned into silence. He wanted to say something, anything to the other man, but his tongue was stuck in his throat, and he took an instinctive step back.

The man put his gun back into a holster at his side, and surveyed his work. He glanced around them, seeing if there were any cameras nearby, and nodding when he saw that none were angled their way. It had been one of the things Percy had been looking for in a safehouse, somewhere he could come and go without being seen, and now it was working against him.

The man stepped towards him, getting close enough to where Percy could reach out and touch him, though he fought back the instinct to. The feeling was back again in full force, stronger than Percy had ever felt it, and then… it was gone. It was as if it had accomplished its mission, and now it was done, satisfied with where it had led Percy. The thing was, where had it-

“How the fuck do you know my name already?” The young man asked, cutting Percy off mid thought, and before Percy could answer, he walked up to Percy and stabbed him with some syringe he had pulled out of god knows where, sending Percy straight into the inky blackness of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late, but on the plus side, this chapter is double the length of a normal chapter, and the next one should be out soon. This is actually a chapter I've been waiting to put out forever, as it really kicks this arc into action, so stay tuned.


	25. An Old Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy has a chat with his Assistant, and wakes up in a familiar old camp.

Pure white light greeted Percy as he opened his eyes, and he groaned, rubbing his aching head. His memories flooded back to him, and he looked around the empty void. There was a faint rumble in the air, and the world rocked for a moment before going still again.

“You have to be kidding me. Did I already fail? I mean- Jason, of all people, was the one to off me?”

Negative. I merely pulled you back here for a moment while you are… occupied in real time. Our conversation will be swift, and you will return to the present in which you reside.

“Well, that sounds great, but you have some explaining to do, mister. What happened to my memories?

I am not a mister, nor a miss. I am an Assistant, made to serve the almighty deities who control the Shifts of the Universe… and you, as it would seem. As a side effect of your… lacking qualities, it would seem that your memories are separated from you while you are in your reality. They are stuck in this place for the time being.

“So what am I supposed to do now? I can’t save Jason from dying if I don’t remember I’m even supposed to be doing something. This would have been nice to know before I launched myself into the multiverse. Like, what would have happened if Jason had died before we even met in this world? This throws a lot of wrenches in our plans.”

I pushed when I needed to for you to meet your Jason. The feeling you experience at times, the flashes of your past memories, it is what I can do for you from here. The rest is up to you. However, I did not bring you here merely to address that. I have new information for you. About your quest.

“Are you about to tell me that it’s actually going to be easier than you made it sound before? I could use some good news right now.”

In a way. I have looked into your mission and found that while it may or may not be possible, the possible ramifications of you succeeding actually ripple out further than previously thought. In other words, if you can save one Jason, you may be able to save them all. 

“How does that work? Why would that have any affect on other realities, or whatever?”

It appears that Constants, as I explained to you before, may be… contagious. That is, Jason’s death spreads slowly throughout realities, affecting those closest to it and then spreading out from that. 

“So… if he were to die in the one I’m in right now… what does that mean for that?”

Say your Jason was shot in the head. One solution for a victim less death inclined may be to simply change realities to where the bullet misses, or where he successfully dodges the bullet. That would not work for your Jason. He would instead die soon after that from something else, no doubt within a few minutes at best. This means that if your Jason dies, you would have to change realities drastically to avoid the contagion. Something drastic would need to be different between the new reality you choose and the one you were residing in. A good example would be your first shift. Plenty has changed between the two worlds, so Jason is safe for now.

“So what you're saying is that if I mess up, I pretty much have to start all over? Any progress made is just- gone?”

Not entirely. As you may have noticed, I have pushed for you to remember certain things, feel a certain way when you see something familiar to your old reality, but I am not wholly responsible for those feelings. While you may not be a deity like the previous Chosen, you are half god, so the memory erasure is not total. There may also be effects in those around you as well. Similar to the contagion of Jason’s death, your ability to retain some of your memories may also be shareable. I have observed several of your friends displaying similar symptoms. I would need more data to be able to say anything definitive.

“More deaths, you mean.”

Correct. While I help you save your Jason, I am collecting valuable data for myself as well. With your help, I may be able to expand my capabilities to further our efforts. Perhaps I could even find a way to fully restore your memories while you are in reality. But unfortunately, my data comes from your failures. With each attempt, I will grow and learn more about this very peculiar moment in reality.

“That doesn’t sound menacing at all.”

Yes, I agree. I am glad we are able to come to an agreement. If that is all, then you may return to your reality.

“Wait, I’m not don-”

\----

Percy woke up with a start, his eyes desperately scanning the area around him for a clue as to where he was. His limbs were tangled in sheets, and the dull creak of an old mattress protested his weight with every movement he made. He sat up, careful to avoid hitting his head on the top bunk of what he realized was a twin sized bunk bed. 

The space he was in was dark, only a meager slice of moonlight coming in from a window, illuminating a path to the front doorway. He got out of the bed and paused, his vision darkening around the edges from getting up too fast. The drug he had been injected with probably had something to do with it as well, he thought. When his vision returned to normal, he took a few tentative steps toward the light, the wood beneath him creaking and occasionally popping with a sound that made him stay put for a few seconds, as he tried to tell if he was going to plunge through the weak flooring.

He took inventory of himself, and found that beside a dull ache in his arm from where he had been injected, he was more or less how he had left himself. The most noticeable thing he could immediately feel, however, was a great sense of relief. The feeling of deja vu that had been haunting him ever since he had woken up in that hospital was gone, and his mind felt clear.

He opened the door a smidgen and peeked outside. There was a ring of cabins around the one he was in, all surrounding a decent sized fire pit. He realized quickly where he was, and who had likely brought him here. While the blonde man had been unfamiliar to him, there were only a handful of people who knew of this place, who had any kind of connection to it, and there was only one of those few people who he had any sort of connection to. While the other members of the Camp Jupiter squad had been distant and professional, he still remembered the conversations he had on the dock and on the ride back to New York.

That settled a few things in his mind, and it even put a face to the name he had had stuck in his head for the past day, but it only gave him so many more questions. Who was Jason Grace? Why had he brought him back to the decrepit camp they had hid out at two years ago? Most importantly, was he in danger?

He didn’t think so. If Jason wanted him dead, he could have just let the masked biker off him back in the hotel lobby. He wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of bringing him to a second location if he was just going to kill him. Unless he was going to torture him or something, but Percy couldn’t see him torturing anyone. Even from the short conversations they had, there was a brightness behind those electric blue eyes, a light that refused to be snuffed out even after going through some horrible stuff.

No, he didn’t think it was torture. If it was, why had he not been restrained back in the cabin? It would be a pretty amateur move on his part, and nothing about him screamed amateur. So where exactly was he? Percy stepped out into the moonlit night, and tugged absently at the collar of his dress shirt. The night was muggy and hot, and he was regretting his choice of clothing already. 

He walked a circle around the cabins, peeking inside a few only to be met with a near identical layout to what he remembered from before, although he couldn’t make out any clear details from the lack of light. He found his solution in a dirty shed on the outside of the ring of cabins, just a little to the left of the one he had started in. He opened the door and was greeted by a small pull cord that once pulled, blessed him with a small amount of light that flickered faintly.

The walls of the storage were lined with storage containers. Some had labels on them like ‘Life vests’, ‘Archery’, and ‘CTF.’ He didn’t understand what that last one meant, but the one that interested him the most was the one labeled ‘Lights.’ Digging through the box, he clicked through several, only to find that they gave no response, their batteries long dead, most likely corroded from age. He found his prize near the bottom of the box, a small box light with a plastic crank, a mechanical flashlight meant to be used in the absence of batteries. He gave the light a tentative cranking, and let out a small noise of glee when a dim light shone out.

He turned off the shed light and walked back out into the night, the flashlight crank whirring as he rotated it. It didn’t require constant cranking which he was thankful for, but it dimmed a little too quickly for his liking. Not to mention that it was loud, the gears in the box whirring in the quiet night as he kept rotating the crank. He didn’t mind though. He wasn’t hiding. If anything, he was actively trying to find where Jason was, so any noise he made would hopefully attract him to Percy.

He followed a faint path that winded up a hill, and he could hear more wood creaking in the wind. He looked up and saw the large house, a dark silhouette against the starry sky behind it. He looked around him, and while he could see other shapes in the dark, he thought he might as well start with this one. He took a careful step onto the porch, and jerked his foot back when his foot went straight through the wood. He turned around and walked away from the house at a brisk pace. Never mind, he thought, and headed towards another building.

It turned out to be a large open air amphitheater, probably where campers had once gathered for morning assemblies and nightly events. He had never been to a summer camp like this, his father had always been paranoid with his safety after a string of strange accidents seemed to follow him around as a child. The closest thing he had to a summer camp experience was watching Sleepaway Camp with Nico a few Halloweens ago, and he wasn’t sure if he would qualify that as a good reference point.

He sat on one of the benches facing the front, and put the flashlight next to him, its dim light slowly fading away. He tilted his head back and faced the stars, trying to make out any of the constellations he could remember. Thalia had shown him a few of the basic ones once when he had visited her in her new job upstate. In New York, he seldom got any glimpses of stars, but where she worked, the sky looked like something straight out of a picture book. His current view wasn’t half bad either.

He waved at his face, heating up quickly. Even the gentle breeze that flowed through the camp was hot and sticky. He unbuttoned his dress shirt and took it off, leaving him in his undershirt. It helped a little, but the relief was still too little for his liking. He made his way back to the cabin, too tired and hot to bother searching any more. Jason would find him eventually, so he might as well stay put.

With his light, he was able to make out more details than he had before, and finally managed to make out the light switch. Light blinked into the small cabin, and he was feeling satisfied with himself when the door opened behind him, and he jumped in shock. The flashlight and dress shirt dropped out of his hands, and he turned around to face the door.

Jason was standing in the doorway, looking somewhat bemused, and Percy frowned. Now he decided to make an appearance, Percy thought. In his arms, Jason held a few brown grocery bags, the contents almost overflowing past their paper brims.

“A little help here?” Jason asked, as he walked into the room, the door closing shut behind him.

Percy stared at him, and stayed put. What kind of question was that? After everything that had happened, that was the first thing he said to him?

“Or not,” Jason said, dumping the bags onto one of the empty bunk beds. They stared at each other from across the room in silence for a moment before Jason spoke again.

“I guess we have some things to talk about.”

Percy snorted. 

“You think? What the hell is happening?”

“You want to explain how you know my name? Because I don’t remember telling you. In fact, I distinctly remember not telling you.”

They stared at each other some more, the tension was thick in the air. 

“I don’t know.” Percy said, opting to break the silence again first.

Jason raised an eyebrow, and leaned his back against the bunk bed behind him.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth.” Percy said, fully aware of how insane it sounded, but he didn’t have any other explanation.

“Look, maybe you don’t believe me, but all I know is when I woke up after I got kidnapped, I had a name stuck in my head. Your name. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how. That’s all I can say.”

“Thalia told you, didn’t she? I mean, I know you guys are close and all, but I’ve told her so many times that-”

“Wait, so you are related to Thalia? I figured with the last name, but still- she never told us about you.”

Jason’s eyes widened a little bit.

“Oh shit, I guess she didn’t tell you. So then how-” He pinched the bridge of his nose, and shook his head.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even matter. I was going to tell you anyways, so I’m just going to pretend this never happened.”

“I guess it's your turn to answer some questions.” Percy said, mirroring Jason’s stance.

"What do you want with me?" Percy asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to kill you.”

Percy rolled his eyes, and picked up the items he had dropped.

“I’m so scared,” He said, and he looked up at Jason again, who was suddenly close. Jason pushed him onto the bed, shoving him against the rough cotton blankets. Jason climbed on top of him, forcing him down, and Percy felt something thin press against his neck.

“I’m serious,” Jason said, his expression unreadable.

“Go ahead.” Percy said, not believing him for a second.

For a moment, Jason stayed there, his face stony. Then, with a sudden movement, he ran the object against Percy’s throat, slicing clean through-

Slicing through nothing. He held up the credit card he had been pressing against Percy, and waved it for show.

“We’re going to have to work on your survival skills,” He said, still not pulling away from Percy. Their faces were close, too close for Percy’s liking. He decided that two could play games.

He put a hand on the back of Jason’s head and pulled him closer. He leaned in close to Jason’s ear, and whispered softly.

“Next time you want to get on top of me, you just need to ask.”

Jason pulled away, his face bright red, and Percy gave him a smirk. Jason climbed off of him and took a few steps back.

“I would never- Don’t think that- I wasn’t-” He stammered, and Percy raised his eyebrows at the display. 

“Screw you, Jackson, you know that wasn’t- I didn’t-”

“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there, because this is kind of pathetic.”

Jason glared at him, but stopped. He took a breath, and then shook his head.

“I shouldn’t have taken this job,” He said.

“What sort of job would that be?” Percy asked, straightening his clothes from where they had wrinkled.

“You have lots of enemies, Jackson, and I’ll tell you, I can sort of see why. Someone wants you dead, and unfortunately, I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“While I’m not surprised people want me dead, why are you here? I don’t remember contacting the Camp.”

“You said it yourself the last time we spoke. You fight Titans, just like the Camp does. Apparently, you’re worth more to them alive than you are dead, so consider this one a freebie.”

“I didn’t think that an elite mercenary camp gave out freebies. Should I have received a punch card or something? Or was it a special promo, buy one get one free?”

“Technically speaking, it's not free. You might not pay, but an exec is probably financing this whole operation.”

“I see they’re spending the big bucks,” Percy said, giving the old cabin a once over.

“I know this isn’t up to your normal standard, but this operation is greater than just me and you. While we speak, we have agents combing the area making sure that no one gets here, and even more trying to track the people who are after you. Honestly, you should be flattered.”

“How much money could it possibly cost to put us at like, a Super 8 hotel, or something? I’d take bed bugs over this hellhole.”

“The whole point is that you aren’t spotted. We can’t chance someone seeing you and then alerting the media.”

“Sure, let’s go with that.” Percy said, patting his pockets, just now realizing that his pants were lighter than before.

“Where the fuck did my phone go?” He said, getting up and looking around the cabin. He walked over to Jason, who simply put his hands up in surrender.

“It’s not here. Right now, I think someone is driving it around the city. If it was here, they could trace it back to us.”

“What about my parents? My friends? Has anyone told them anything about this?”

Jason shook his head, and had the decency to look a little guilty.

“I’m sorry, but the whole point of this operation is to make sure that no one knows where we are. Look, I know you’re worried, but we have agents in place to make sure that they stay safe, and they are some of the best in the field. Like it or not, you have to stay here, just for a little bit.”

Percy still looked flustered, but he calmed down a bit, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

“How long is a little bit?” He asked, his gaze on the floor below him.

Jason didn’t answer him, and he looked up. The other boy was looking away from his, even more guilt on his face. He tried to catch Jason’s gaze, but he looked away again.

“Jason,” He said again, this time more sternly, “How long is a little bit?”

Jason mumbled something, and Percy strained to hear.

“What was that?” He said, his nerves building.

“I said- “ Jason mumbled the rest.

“One more time?”

“A month?” Jason said, his face sheepish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Jason, I don't know if you are going to make it through a week, much less a whole month.


	26. A Disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth reflects on the past and present as she struggles to find her missing ex. A man receives a phone call from his boss.

Nico had finally agreed to lie down in the other room, and Annabeth allowed herself to close her eyes for a few moments. It had been three hours since Nico had called her sobbing incoherently about something happening, and one hour since Nico had gotten home from being questioned by the police. Things were moving far too slowly for Annabeth’s liking. Every second they spent here, stationary, was another second that Percy could be getting further and further away from them.

She put aside the deep resentment that bubbled inside of her for the moment, keeping her mouth closed around Nico when she wanted to riddle him with questions about what had happened, what he had seen, how he could have let this happen… She knew it wasn’t the time. Right now, Nico needed to be handled carefully. He was just beginning to rebuild his confidence in himself, had just started opening up to them again, and the last thing they needed was for him to blame himself for losing Percy.

Percy was probably fine, which was the only thing that kept Annabeth somewhat calm. While the police puttered around like headless chickens, she had seen the crime scene for what it was within seconds of being in that hotel lobby. She had bribed one of the guards to let her in, and took a moment to look around, taking a few pictures under the guise of a criminal photographer. Frustratingly, there was no security footage of the incident, both cameras in the lobby were found playing a loop of footage from months ago. That made her think that someone had set it up like that, and considering Percy had apparently rented out a secret apartment there to hide in, gave her a pretty good guess that it was him.

Nico had told her that Percy had jumped out of the elevator on his own, and that a masked biker was chasing them from a club, the club being a whole different mess. She focused on the very dead man on the floor of the lobby, blood oozing from the wound in his head. He had been shot in the back of the head, which meant unless something weird had happened, Percy couldn’t have been the one to shoot him. So, a third party had come in to the scene, shot the man, and then… that was where things got hazy.

Had Percy been rescued by somebody? If so, why hadn’t he gotten into contact with them? He could have been laying low, but she knew he wouldn’t do that without at least sending her a text message, or… something. He would have sent a message. 

They didn’t disappear on each other like this.

He could have been kidnapped… while he was being kidnapped? The scenario seemed unlikely, but Percy did have a lot of enemies, many of whom she could see fighting over him. But there was no ransom yet, no group claimed the crime scene. In many ways, the crime scene was a dead end. They had traced his phone back to the city, but she was doubtful it was still with him. It traced a weird pattern around the city in an incomprehensible pattern, and if she had to guess, it was being driven around to throw the police off. The frustrating thing was that each time they traced the phone, it was already moving somewhere else, and they couldn’t find the car that might hold the phone in the heavy traffic.

That gave her freedom to turn her attention to the club. The club she had just returned from. She hadn’t been able to get very close, the cop cars and ambulances had been too numerous, and she didn’t want to get in the way. As she stood there, blue and red lights flashing through the darkness of the night all around her, she felt her stomach drop. 

It had been a mass poisoning, one of the worst crimes to happen in the city in recent memory. 

She didn’t want to think about all of the people who died.

Unlike the crime scene around the hotel lobby, the one around the club was sealed tight. There were already reports online that the FBI was involved, among other big organizations she wanted no part in. She just wondered how long it would take them to realize what she had.

Nico and Percy had been targeted. Shortly after arriving, Nico had broken down, sobbing into her shirt as he spilled the secret he had been keeping. The Trench, the club he had been at, had asked him to come tonight. Under the guise of a sponsorship, they had offered him a respectable amount of money to show up, and promised a bonus if he brought some friends, specifically one Percy Jackson.

Nico told her about the pills they had been offered, and how Percy had kept them to himself, not letting either of them partake. She had silently offered a thank you to the universe that Percy was a lot smarter than he let on. While others had him pegged as a simple playboy, especially from how he presented himself in the public eye, she kept a close eye on his… other activities. He was highly intelligent, and spectacle of other’s intentions almost to his own detriment. He had a hard time letting people in, and then had a hard time letting go. There was no way that he was going to trust a stranger to hand him something to take, or that he would let one of his friends take anything.

She got up from the recliner she had lied down in, and crossed the room, sitting at the dining table. She opened up her laptop for what felt like the millionth time in the last few hours, and started digging again. The apartment was silent except for her small keyboard clicks. She was staying over at Nico’s place, partly to keep him company, and because Hades was never home. Thalia was headed over, which meant they could strategize all night without worrying about being interrupted. She had already said her assurances to her mother, promised she wouldn’t be out, and that was enough for Athena. She only had to promise that she would be in the next morning for a quick interview. The thought sickened her.

When had her mother become like this? Athena had never been a great mother, but they had once had a tentative peace between them. Her mother would focus on her projects, and Annabeth would focus on her. While Athena wasn’t around her very much, Annabeth had once gotten the impression that Athena was proud of her, trusted her to make good decisions and all that.

Now, it was like there was a gap. All her mother wanted to focus on was that damned show, to the point of detriment for her other businesses. Annabeth wanted to grab her by the shoulders and scream, but instead found peace by just getting the hell out of dodge. Going to London had been the best thing she had ever done, even with how challenging some of her professors could be.

She was thankful that school had taken a break. She didn’t get the entire summer off like in high school, instead, she got a few weeks at the end of July. She had been planning on spending that break studying for her next round of tests, but that would have to wait. She had a dumb ass ex boyfriend to save.

The door to the penthouse opened, and Thalia came bursting through. She carried an assortment of drinks and snacks with her, and she set them down on the kitchen counter. Annabeth got up, and gave her a quick hug.

“Hey,” She said, not sure what else to say.

“Hey,” Thalia said back, more subdued than usual.

“What’s with the stuff?” Annabeth said, giving the pile a once over.

“Figured we would need fuel while we try to find our idiot.”

“You do realize that this is a fully stocked kitchen, right?”

“Check the cupboards.” Thalia responded, grabbing a bag of chips and popping it open.

Annabeth walked over to the cupboard and opened. She made a face, and closed it. 

“I didn’t know Hades was on a health kick.” She said.

“Oh it wasn’t him. Nico says he doesn’t even eat while he’s here, just goes to bed and leaves at the crack of dawn. That…” Thalia waved her finger at the various cupboards in the kitchen, “Is the result of having a health freak as a boyfriend.”

“My opinion of Will just went down a little.”

“Try tasting those protein bars. My respect for him died with my first bite.” Thalia joked.

Annabeth laughed a little, and gave a glance over to the clock. It was almost midnight, but she wasn’t sleepy. 

“How goes the search?” 

“Not well.” Annabeth said, explaining her progress so far. Thalia took a seat at the table next to where she had been sitting, and hummed occasionally in acknowledgement in certain spots.

“So… this third party. Do you think it could have been that group? The one back on Long Island?”

“It’s… possible, but I’m not sure how Percy could have hired them if he didn’t know he was going to be attacked. Also, do they even do protection services? I thought they were just a mercenary group.”

“Percy said they did lots of things, although he didn’t really go into detail. He didn’t even tell us how he contacted them, he only mentioned something about Hera giving him some advice, but nothing more than that. He didn’t like to talk about them afterwards either.”

Annabeth had a pretty good guess why he didn’t like to talk about that night. She didn’t like to talk about it either. No matter how much they promised each other that they were fine now, there was still a certain amount of hurt in that day. She suspected there always would be. 

The break up.

If Annabeth was being honest with herself, she was still shocked she had done it. In her head, it had always been her and Percy against the world. She had helped him when he had come to her after Zeus accused him of stealing those documents, after she had helped him expose Luke for being the true traitor. He told her about his plans, his distrust of their parents and how their wealth was a gross injustice on the world. She felt it too, and was thrilled to have someone to fight back with.

Then Percy had started going deeper. The connections she had set up for him had been used to find more connections, and then more, until Percy had established a formidable social network of some of the most powerful people in the United States. Before she knew it, they were taking down Titan group after Titan group. Each takedown was more risky than the last, and it was harder and harder to maintain anonymity. Then, even after agreeing to take time to cool down after Luke… the Luke incident, he went and hired that Camp without her knowledge.

The only reason she had even heard about it in the first place was because Nico and Thalia had managed to wrangle themselves along somehow, and she followed them. That night, seeing all of those people dead, seeing Nico get shot in the back… She had been furious at Percy. When it was all over, and she found him at the edge of those docks, she had unloaded on him. Every frustration she had ever felt come tumbling out, and the more she talked, the worse she felt. How dare he do this to me, she had thought, and then the thought formed in her mind.

“I think we should end things. Between us. If you can’t trust me enough to tell me what’s going on, then we don’t have the partnership I thought we did, romantically or business wise.”

The silence that had followed was the longest few seconds of Annabeth’s life. Percy looked up at her, that same look in his eyes he always got when he was pushing his feelings down, and he gave a small nod.

“If that’s what you want.” He said quietly.

“It’s not what I fucking want! Do you think I want to do this? I thought we were… Fuck, I don’t even know what I thought. I was willing to go all the way, if you were. But I guess that’s not what you want out of this, is it?”

“It’s not that I don’t want this, it’s just-”

“What, you don’t trust me enough? You don’t think I can handle myself?”

“No! I just- this stuff is dangerous. I wanted to keep you out of it, so you would be safe.”

“Well that’s a pretty shitty excuse. What was I supposed to do when you got yourself killed, Percy? Just accept it and move on? Wonder what else was going on behind my back for the rest of my life? You don’t get to decide what’s best for me without even talking to me.”

His face twisted, and for a moment she was hopeful that he would actually… emote. That he would express some kind of emotion, something she could read, but instead he just forced himself back into business mode, and turned away from her.

“I’m sorry.” He said simply.

She sighed, and turned away from him to walk back up the dock.

That night had left a scar on their relationship. The next time they had talked had been when she had announced her enrollment in London. They had been surrounded by their friends and family, and forced to make amicable small talk with each other for a few minutes.

The next time after that had been in the airport as she prepared to leave for college. He had offered her a ride to the airport out of nowhere, and without even thinking, she had said yes. It came out as naturally as anything, the part of her mind that still remembered the years of friendship they had before they got together and wanting things to get back to normal.

“I guess this is it, huh?” Percy said as they pulled into the airport.

“Yeah, I guess this is.” She said, looking down at the floor.

“I- I wanted to say-”

“Don’t.” She warned, getting ready to open the door and leave.

“No, please- just… I’m sorry. For everything. It was a shitty thing to do, and I’m sorry. It’s just- I guess I’m starting to look back on everything that I’ve done and… a lot of it has been really shitty. But- I’m trying to be better. I know this doesn’t mean anything right now, but- I want… If you want to-”

“Are you suggesting we get back together? Right now?”

“No! No, it’s not- look, I really do like you, but… you were right. There were a lot of ugly truths about myself that I’ve chosen not to look at because it's been too painful or inconvenient, but now I am, and I’m realizing how much I’m going to miss you. Miss us. Not- together like we were, but… before that. We were friends for so long before all of this, and I like to think that things were better then, and I don’t want to lose that. I understand if you want to move on from that with your new start, and all.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes a little, and then punched him on the shoulder.

“Ow!”

“I miss you too, dummy. I don’t want to lose you, not even after what happened, but- I think it might take some time. Before things are back to normal, if they can ever be. I’d like to try, though. If you are?”

He smiled, a sad one that she hadn’t seen in a long time, and she was glad to see that he had no mask this time.

“Yes. Please. Take all of the time you need, I’ll be ready.”

He reached across the armrest, and she joined him in a weird one armed hug. She pulled away from him, and she smiled. As she opened the car door, and started walking back, she felt her eyes begin to prickle. She glanced back over her shoulder, and saw him waving at her, and she let out a little breath. Things were beginning to get better.

Now, she was organizing the search and rescue for him, and she couldn’t help but wonder how thighs would be different if they were still together. Where would she have been in life, if she hadn’t given it all up to go to college? Would Percy have ever eased up on the fight against the Titans, or would he be deeper than he had ever been? 

It just didn’t make sense. She had been keeping tabs on him from afar, checking to see if he had really pulled back like he had said he would, and he was true to his word. He had pulled back from being involved in anything shady, and instead ran most of his operations through a fake assistant he had hired to get access to his father’s assets. 

So why now? If he had wronged anybody in the past to the point of getting them to hunt him down, it should have been years ago. It was clearly an attack against him personally, as none of the other Twelve or their children had any issues in the past few days. 

“I’m fucking stumped.” She told Thalia, sliding back into her chair.

“Well if you’re giving up, what’s the point in the rest of us trying?” Thalia joked, but there was something deeper in her expression.

“You look like you have an idea.” Annabeth said, sitting up a little.

“Maybe. It’s not anything concrete, but… how quickly can you trace a phone call?”

“On my own… it might take a while. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like that. Who are you calling, anyways?”

“Just someone who might know something about Percy, especially if the Camp has anything to do with this.”

“Do I want to know who?”

“You wouldn’t know him. He’s a relative of mine.”

\----

“How goes the search?” A voice said from the other side of the phone.

He waited for a moment, taking time to think about the situation, and then spoke.

“They are here already. We think they might have taken the boy.”

The string of curses that followed had him gently lifting the phone away from his ear, waiting for the tirade to end.

“What do you mean they’re already here? Who hired them? The boy should have no idea about our plans!”

“I’m sorry sir, but we don’t know yet. Our spy on the inside is trying to see who made a contract, but that will take time. For now, we are trying to trace the boy’s phone. We think it might still be in the city.”

“Nothing but a distraction,” The voice said harshly. “The Camp will have him far away from us by now, he’s probably at some safehouse by now.”

“We do have some good news. It seems like a certain Grace was involved in the mission as well. Our spy says that he might have been the one to take the boy.”

“Well, small mercies to make up for your ineptitude. Listen to me closely. I want those boys, and I want them soon. If you can not get them in front of me within 48 hours, there will be harsh consequences, do I make myself clear?”

The man nodded, forgetting for a second that it was just a phone call.

“Yes sir, of course. I will get them to you.”

“Don’t disappoint me again, Michael.”

The phone line died before Michael had a chance to respond, and he put his phone away. His skin itched with anger. He was angry with himself, angry with his boss, but most of all, angry at those stupid boys. It was thanks to them that he was getting an earful from his boss, thanks to them that his place in the organization might be jeopardized. His boss didn’t need to worry. He would find them, and he would make them pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name Michael seems familiar.
> 
> Next Chapter: Percy and Jason struggle with life at a dilapidated summer camp, and Percy makes a personal bet.


	27. A Heat Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Jason deal with the heat.

Percy woke up groggy and disoriented. He wiped absently at his face, and opened his eyes, shielding them with his hand from the bright morning sun streaming into the cabin. A shadow stepped in front of him, blocking the sun from hitting him. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed the features of the young man standing in front of him. Jason looked down at him, a slightly disgusted look on his face.

“You drool in your sleep.” He said, and something in Percy’s brain clicked.

“That’s not your line,” He said without thinking, and then he blinked again. Why had he said that? Jason looked equally confused.

“What?” He asked.

“It’s just- I don’t know, I think someone else told me that before.”

He could see that Jason didn’t completely buy his excuse, but then again, neither did he. He didn’t know how else to explain his outburst, so he decided to just leave it at that.

“So, do we have any plans for the day?” He asked, swinging his legs over the edge so he was sitting up. Jason leaned against the side of the bunk opposite of him, and folded his arms.

“I didn’t think you would want to hang around the person who kidnapped you any more than you had to.”

Percy shrugged.

“Technically, you stopped me from being kidnapped, so… I guess it cancels out. Besides, I probably would have hired the Camp to protect me given a little more time, so it’s not like this wasn’t going to happen anyways. Like you said, we’re going to be spending a month with each other, we might as well try to get along.”

“You’re taking this all remarkably well. I would think most people in your situation would be freaking out right now.”

Percy smirked at him, and stretched his arms to get his blood flowing.

“I think we both know I’m not most people. You aren’t either, mister mercenary man.”

“I guess that’s fair, but I really don’t have anything planned. I figured we would both want to stay inside, out of the heat. The air conditioner is the only thing keeping me sane.”

“I meant to ask, but what exactly is powering this place? The shed light, the cabin light, the mini fridge, and the air conditioning unit all need to have power from something.”

Jason glanced outside, in the direction of the small lake Percy had gone to the last time they had been at the camp.

“There’s a small generator in another shed by the lake. They were able to route the power to most of the cabins and the tool shed. It can’t put out a whole lot of energy, but it's enough to run the AC and the fridge so we have stuff to eat that isn’t canned.”

The AC unit buzzing in the corner of the room and the mini fridge at the back were the only two things in the entire camp that seemed to be from the current century. The rest of the camp seemed long forgotten by time, and Percy was surprised that there was even a power circuit throughout the camp.

“What’s the deal with the camp anyways? This camp, not the mercenary agency.”

“Just a typical summer camp that went under after the original owners passed away. Normally a place like this would be ripe for teens to come trash it and hang out, but it's too remote for most people. I think the current owners get paid by the Camp to leave it alone so we can use it as a safe house. Apparently it's been closed since the nineties.”

“So Camp Jupiter has had this place for all of those years, and the best they can do is a single AC unit and a mini fridge? I thought you guys were loaded or something.”

Jason huffed out a laugh, and he shook his head.

“No use in putting money into a place that almost never gets used. I think the last time it was used was the last time we were here, and before that it was like a five year gap. You may be used to having everything you need served to you on a silver platter, but this right here is all we need. As long as we have AC, some food and water, what else can we ask for?”

The AC chose that moment to sputter and shake. A grinding noise filled the air, and both of them covered their ears. The noise died down, and Percy looked across the room to see the AC unit leaking a dark cloud of smoke. He turned to Jason and smirked.

“Not one word, Jackson.” Jason growled, cutting him off before he could say anything.

Percy was going to say something back, but then he frowned. The air was already losing its cool touch, and the sun had barely started to rise.

“You have a back up, right?”

Jason’s expression told him everything he needed to know.

“How do you not have a back up? Now what are we supposed to do?”

“It’s not that big of a deal, we still have everything we need as long as the fri-”

“Don’t fucking jinx us, Jason.” Percy said, making sure the fridge didn’t start smoking too.

“You do realize that we’re in a heat wave, right? We need something to stay cool. Go call your boss or whoever, and tell them to get us a new AC unit.”

“I can’t turn my phone on. The whole point of this operation is to stay off the grid, and if someone traces my phone, we put the whole plan at risk.”

“Oh, so you get to keep your phone, but mine is getting a joy ride across the city.”

“I actually have restraint, so I can be trusted with my phone.”

“You have no idea the amount of restraint it’s taking not to get up and fight you for your phone right now.”

Jason scoffed.

“Like you have any chance of beating me in a fight.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Percy, I hate to break it to you, but I have literally been training to kill and incapacitate people for almost my entire life. I don’t think some rich kid is, in any way, a threat to me.”

Percy grinned, but didn’t push the subject any more. This was good, getting Jason to discount his skills. That gave him a chance in the future to catch him off guard, and if he could find where Jason hid his phone, he could make a call to someone.

“Fine, but we seriously need to do something about the AC unit. Last I checked, the temperature is going to skyrocket over the next few days.”

Percy got off the bed, and walked over to the smoking machine, waving away some of the smoke. He gave it a good few slaps against the side, and when that didn’t work, he looked around the room.

“Can you check if there are any tools in the shed out back?” He asked.

“Why do I have to get them?” Jason asked, but he was already up, and moving.

Jason returned a few moments later with a small black tool box, setting it down next to Percy.

“I didn’t think you would have any sort of experience with this sort of stuff,” He said, as he took a seat on the bed nearest to Percy.

“I don’t really, but I’ve helped a couple of times with some stuff in some fisheries.”

Jason raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t think you would sink to that kind of grunt work.”

Percy sent him an annoyed look and then returned to his task, slowly taking the casing off.

“You keep talking as if I’m like, royalty or something. My dad runs a business, and I need to know every level of said business, no matter how ‘low’ it may be, especially if I’m ever going to try to change how things are run. I’ve spent entire summers flying all over the country to see all of the different aspects of Trident Inc.”

“You know, I guess I’ve never really thought about it, but… what exactly does your dad’s company even do? What exactly is Trident?”

Percy laughed, and set down his screwdriver.

“Think of something to do with water, and the answer is probably that we have something to do with it.”

“That’s pretty vague.”

“We cover a wide variety. Throw some stuff out, and I’ll tell you if we deal with it or not.”

“Well, you already mentioned fisheries… Dams?” A nod. “Water purification plants?” A nod. “Making boats?” A nod. “Bottled water?” At that, Percy wiped his forehead, and got up. He walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of water. He walked back over to where Jason was sitting, and pointed to the label. A small trident symbol was printed in the corner, and Percy took a swig of water.

“The answer is almost always going to be yes, if you still want to keep going.” He said, resuming his task.

“How is that allowed? Aren’t there laws that prevent stuff like that from happening?”

“Those kinds of laws don’t touch us. We have a fleet of lawyers for any kind of trouble like that, and plenty of politicians who get a nice bonus for keeping their mouth shut. It’s gross, the stuff the Twelve can get away with, but it's part of the reason why I started to plan for how I’ll take it all down. Things need to change, and I intend to start that change.”

Jason was silent for a moment, and Percy could tell he was thinking through something. He focused on the task in front of him, and tried to piece together what exactly had gone wrong. He lost himself in his work, and enjoyed trying to figure out the puzzle in front of him.

“I guess- It’s pretty respectable. What you’re planning, I mean. Not a lot of people would dare bite the hand that feeds them.”

“Most people aren’t in a position to.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being the small clinks as Percy made his way through the AC unit. He wiped his forehead again, and sighed. The air was already hot, and he could feel his skin prick with sweat.

Ten minutes later, he got to his feet, and stepped back from the unit, eyeing his work.

“You’re done?” Jason asked, sitting up from the bed.

“Nope. I can’t figure the damn thing out.”

Jason groaned, and collapsed back onto the bed.

“You got my hopes up!”

“I told you I didn’t have any experience with this stuff! I’m just as disappointed as you are. I fucking hate the heat.”

“I would have thought you would love the heat. You seem like the type of person who loves a good beach.”

“I like my beaches like I like my coffee. Cold.” Percy said, taking another drink of water.

“How the hell do you even swim in water like that?”

“Who said anything about swimming? I just need a good crisp sea breeze and the sound of waves, and I’m content.”

“You don’t like swimming?” Jason asked.

“I like swimming, just not in the ocean. I had- I just don’t like swimming in the ocean.”

Jason sat back up, and patted the spot next to him on the bed.

“Talk it out, man.” He said, laying back down.

Percy sighed and laid down next to him, laying a good distance away from Jason.

“It’s nothing juicy or anything, if you were wondering. I just had a bad experience with a riptide. I almost got swept out to sea, but I managed to get out. I was scared of swimming for a few years after that, though. It was a little pathetic, when my dad’s company is all about water, and I was scared of drowning.”

“It is a little ironic.”

“You want to talk about irony? Thalia’s dad owns some of the largest airlines in the company and she’s still afraid of flying! How about that irony?”

“Thalia’s afraid of flying?”

“Oh shit, I forgot she’s your… cousin?”

Jason turned over and gave him a questioning look.

“Cousin? I’m her brother.”

“What? No… That doesn’t make any sense. Zeus only had one kid and that’s Thalia. I thought you were her cousin from her mom’s side or something. She was never close with them.”

“Beryl Grace? Yeah, that’s my mom. Zeus is my dad. That kind of makes her my sister. I really thought you would have figured all of this out by now.”

Percy was confused by something, and then his mind clicked. An image flicked into his mind’s eye for a second. Suddenly, he was back at the bar where he had been kidnapped. Someone was in the booth across from him. They slipped him a piece of paper. A birth certificate. The paper was blurry, he couldn’t remember what exactly was written on it, but he focused on a line. A name. Something that started with a J. The next document. A death certificate. The date, three years from the birth certificate. The next document. A letter to someone. Begging. Pleading with someone to take the child. The reason-

A lightning bolt of pain shot through Percy’s head, and he gasped, grasping at his head. Jason was suddenly next to him, holding him steady. He was saying something, but it was garbled in the pain. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Percy sat upright, and took a few breaths to steady himself.

“Holy shit,” He murmured to himself, and then looked back at Jason, who was still holding him by the arm.

“I think I saw something to do with your death.”

Jason’s eyes widened, and his grip loosened on Percy’s arm.

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw it, in my memory. Before the first kidnapping attempt, I had met with someone. They showed me some things. Your birth certificate, your death certificate. There was… a letter. It was short, but it was begging someone to take the child, you, far away from- I couldn’t see what, but it was something big.”

Jason looked down, and then back to Percy.

“What the hell were you doing going after stuff like that?”

“I- I don’t know. My memory is still fuzzy around that whole time period, but… It was only a few days. That means that whatever I found, setting up that contact… it was all within a few days.”  
“It fits, I guess. Thalia told me that I had been killed when I was three, but I never had any idea why I had been sent away. Maybe someone… threatened Zeus? But it seems like a pretty drastic move to make, faking your child’s death and sending them away to become a soldier.”

“The Titans could have had something to do with it.”

“Then why didn’t they do anything to Thalia? Why did it have to be me that got sent away?”

Neither of them had an answer, and the question remained in the air.

\----

The sun raged on, and the cabin was officially too hot to stay in.

“We could swim in the lake?” Percy suggested, as he took refuge in the shade of a tree. He had brought a towel with him and laid it out on the ground to sit on.

“Water snake infestation.” Jason said, feeling a little guilty for how bad a state the camp was in.

“This place sucks.” Percy said, crumpling a little bit.

“I’m sure it was better back in the day.”

“I doubt it,” Percy said, shucking his shirt and throwing it to the side.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked, his voice going higher than he wanted it to.

Percy laid down on the towel, spreading his arms out wide and breathed out a sigh. He opened one eye and looked at Jason.

“It’s too fucking hot for a shirt.” He said simply, and then closed his eyes again. Jason was glad he couldn’t see him, because he knew there was a massive blush forming on his cheeks. There was no reason he should- He shouldn’t- Why did he feel like this? He had been around countless other guys in the communal showers back at the base, and he had never- he had never wanted to look at them like he wanted to look at Percy right now.

He looked away. He didn’t want Percy to open his eyes and find him staring at him. That would be hard to explain. Still, he couldn’t help but shoot occasional glances at him, his eyes raking up and down Percy’s bare chest like he had never seen someone shirtless before. He had noticed before that Percy looked fit, especially when he was just in his undershirt, but he didn’t think that he was that muscled.

Of course, Percy wasn’t satisfied with being one of the richest people in the country, he also had to go out of the way and be one of the hottest too. It was fucking unfair, and Jason could swear fate was laughing at him. 

“You know, there is a pretty nice beach just past the mess hall. Are you still too scared of the water to head over?” He teased, trying to goad Percy into coming along. If Percy was in the water, maybe he could stop being distracted by his body.

Percy snorted and propped himself up so was resting on his elbows. Damn, Jason thought to himself.

“I already regret telling you that story. That was years ago. Unfortunately, we don’t have sunscreen, and as an official associate of Coppertone, I can’t be seen with an ugly sunburn.”

Jason laughed, and shook his head.

“You’re a what?”

“Coppertone spokesperson. We took over the company when we realized their sunscreen was damaging the coral reefs and changed the formula. We needed someone to be in the new ad campaign and Thalia thought it would be hilarious to volunteer me. She didn’t find it quite as funny when she saw how many people loved the campaign. Honestly, she did me a favor. I got a few dates with people because of that.”

“Oh, I’m sure that was a hit with the ladies.”

“A large number of gentlemen, too.”

“Well, fortunately for Mr. Coppertone, I happened to bring a bottle of sunscreen with me. Give me a second, I’ll go get it.”

As soon as he was out of sight, Jason let out a breath. Was Percy into guys as well? He had made that joke last night, sure, but Jason had figured it was just a way to mess with him. He had been dating that girl last time, so Jason had mostly written him off as solely a good looking man, but… No. He didn’t need to do that to himself. Even if Percy was bi, there was almost no future where the two of them were together in any kind of context.

He got the sunscreen from his bag, and chuckled to himself as he read the label. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water, and grabbed his bag to put them in. He took the clothes he had brought for the trip and his meager supplies, like his phone and its charger, and hid them underneath one of the boards from under the bed. He went to put the water and sunscreen into the bag and stopped. At the bottom of the bag, a small package rested at the bottom of the bag, a small gift tag aiming at him. ‘Love, P.’ It simply said, and he put it to the side, determined to ignore it. 

“What’s that?” A voice said from beside him, and he jumped. Percy smirked at him, looking far too satisfied with himself, and Jason groaned.

“What are you doing in here?”

“You were taking too long. How long does it take to get sunscreen?” He asked.

Jason hoped he hadn’t seen him place the phone under the bed, but he didn’t think he had.

“I’m bringing a bag with water and snacks. Sorry to keep his highness waiting.”

Before he could say anything, Percy snatched up the package from beside his bag, and shook it a little, trying to hear what it could be.

“Stop that,” Jason said, but Percy held it high out of his reach, and Jason didn’t want to get close to him, distracted by the way his muscles looked- 

“You didn’t tell me it was your birthday, Jason.”

“It’s not a fucking birthday present, you moron. Give it back.”

“I’ll give it back if you tell me when your birthday is.”

“What- Why do you need to know?”

“Just curious.”

“July 1st,” Jason answered, desperate to get the gift back. Piper had a terrible sense of humor, and if there was anything bad in the package, he needed to be the one to see it first.

“And this July, you turned…”

“That wasn’t the deal!”

Percy gave him an unimpressed look.

“18.” Jason huffed out.

“There, was that so hard?” Percy said, giving him back the gift. Jason eyed it carefully, not sure if he should open it or not.

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

“One of my friends left it for me. She has- she’s a bit… I don’t like her gifts.”

“Oh my gods, just open the damn gift.”

There was something in that phrasing that didn’t seem right to Jason, but he carefully tore into the gift wrapping. He stopped as soon as he saw the title.

“Oh, it’s just a movie. That’s actually not that-” He tore the rest of the paper, and sighed.

“Are you kidding me?” He blurted out, and Percy leaned close to him to see what had gotten him frustrated.

“Oh.” Percy said simply. The edges of his mouth twitched and Jason could tell he was trying not to laugh.

He had thought it was just the movie Clue, a movie he had talked about seeing with Piper a long time ago, but instead, Piper had managed to find the porn version of the movie. Beneath the dvd, there was a box of… supplies that Jason chose to ignore and he pushed everything underneath the bed.

“Your friend likes to mess with you often?” Percy asked, and all Jason could do was nod.

“She finds it hilarious to put me in uncomfortable positions like this.”

“With a kit like that, you could get into a comfortable position real easy.”

“Percy!” Jason yelled, his face heating up.

Percy laughed loudly, the sound filling the entire cabin, and Jason… liked the way it sounded, even as he was annoyed at him.

“You know, I see where the amusement factor comes into play. You’re pretty easy to fluster, you know.”

“Let’s just go to the beach.” 

\----

The beach was better than Jason expected. The sky was clear, and the water was…

“Oh, shit.” Percy said, snapping his fingers.

“Long Island Sound is like the last place you want to go swimming in. It’s actually pretty gross.” He said to Jason.

“You just now remembered that?” 

“I forgot! I actually did a research project on this water in high school. It was, and I quote, a cesspool of pollution and flesh eating bacteria.”

“What the- We were going to go swimming in this, and you just now thought of that?”

“It was a long time ago, okay? Just be glad I remembered before we actually got in.”

They stood there for a moment. Percy started waving at his face absently, trying to cool off. 

“What now?” Percy asked.

Their options were to either go back to the broiling cabin, or stay and figure out something else to do that didn’t involve swimming.

“We could walk along the beach. It looks like it goes a little bit that way,” Jason said, pointing to the right of where they were standing.

“Looks like… some kind of cave? Want to go check it out?” Percy asked.

“I don’t see what else we can do.”

They made their way down the beach, and Percy wrapped the towel around himself to keep the sun off of him.

“You know, it's kind of weird to see a save here. You don’t see a whole lot of those near Long Island Sound.”

“I just hope it’s cool inside. This heat is killing me.”

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe you could… call someone about the AC unit?”

“I can’t- It has to be for emergencies, okay?”

“Well, when you get heat stroke and die from shock, I’ll say ‘I told you so.’”

“Sure,” Jason said, but his conviction was wavering. If it was only going to get hotter…

They reached the cave and Jason gasped. It was carved out of the cliffside, and reinforced by concrete pillars that lined the walls. It sunk into the ground, inviting them in, and they looked at each other.

“What is something like this doing out here?” Jason asked, and Percy just shrugged.

“I don’t know, but it seems like it'd be a pretty penny to do something like this all the way out here.”

Percy went ahead of Jason, peering into the darkness.

“What do you see?” Jason asked, his voice going quiet for some reason.

“It’s a door!” Percy said, starting down the slope to the cave.

“Percy, wait!”

By the time Jason arrived at the bottom, Percy was already struggling with the door. He was turning a valve connected to the side of the door, and with a final tug, the door hissed open. He shot Jason a grin, and then pulled the door all the way open.

“Oh.” He said, his smile falling away as he looked inside.

Jason walked up to him and peered inside to see what had made him react that way.

“Oh.” He said as well.

It wasn’t disappointment that had made Percy react that way, or shock, or something horrible. It was… pure amazement. The inside of the cave- no, it was a bunker, looked like a model replica of someone’s house. A very rich person’s house. 

Jason stepped inside, and bit back another gasp as cold air rushed to meet him. He walked on the marble flooring, taking the entire space in. It wasn’t very big, mostly a kitchen off to the side, a main room, and then what looked like two doors down a hallway on the other side.

The main room was lined with bookcases filled to the brim with heavy texts, and other shelves with knick knacks from all over the world. Lights flickered on around him, some fluttering a little bit as their power source kicked in. Percy walked in behind him, and stared at the space. He walked over to the kitchen, and opened the fridge.

“Empty.” He called out, which Jason had expected.

Jason picked a book off the shelf, and flickered through it, but it was in a different language, one he couldn’t discern. Various drawings and complex equations were written by hand on the sides of some pages, and he tried to wrap his hands around what they could be.

He felt Percy over his shoulder, looking at what he was reading.

“Greek,” He said, and then he was off looking around more.

“You can read Greek?” Jason asked, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf.

“Nope, but I know it when I see it. I can only speak a little. My mother made me take some classes when I was in middle school. Something about getting to know my father’s heritage.”

Jason hummed in acknowledgement.

“Check this out,” Percy called from down the hallway Jason had seen.

Jason walked down the hallway, glimpsing in the first door. It was a small bathroom. He walked over to the second door where Percy had entered, and he found himself in a large master bedroom. A large bed was in the back of the room, and there was a desk off to the side. It was barren except for a single radio and a jar of pens.

That wasn’t what Percy wanted to show him. He turned to the right and saw Percy in the doorway of another bathroom, this one twice as large as the one he had seen in the hallway. The entire room was tiled, and the toilet and sink were off to the corner, almost hidden as to not take away from the main attraction, which was a softly bubbling tub embedded in the floor. It took up almost the entire floor. Jason dipped his foot in, and was surprised that it was slightly hot. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but just on the edge of being too hot to stay in for too long.

“It’s- well, I don’t think it’s a hot spring, but it’s a replica of one,” Percy surmised from beside Jason.

“What the hell is this place?” Jason asked, his nerves getting to him. This all belonged to someone, and whoever it was, they had to be someone of importance.

“Does it matter?” Percy asked.

“What if they- what if they’re still here? What if they come back?”

Percy squirmed next to him, and looked away.

“What is it?” Jason asked.

“It’s- Come on.” He said, tugging Jason behind him. Jason allowed himself to be led back to the kitchen, past the fridge, and into what must have been the pantry. Percy opened the door, but didn’t step inside, and Jason looked past him.

A man’s decaying body faced them, crumpled against the opposite wall. A plume of old blood had sprayed the wall behind him, and in his hands, he held a small silver revolver. A letter was on the floor next to him, and Jason walked over to him and picked it up.

“What’s it say?” Percy asked after a few moments.

Jason let the paper fall, and shook his head.

“Poor bastard. Apparently he put his life’s savings and then some into setting up this place for Y2K. Obviously that didn’t happen, and he decided there was no way he was going to be able to pay off his debts, so…”

“Man, what a way to go.” Percy said.

They stared at the man.

“We should bury him, you know?” Percy said.

“What?”

“The guy deserves a proper burial. No one deserves to rot in some bunker all alone where no one even knows where he is. We should give him a final resting place on the beach.”

“I guess you’re right, but we need to get some shovels. I think I saw some back at the tool shed.”

“We don’t need to dig that deep, just enough for him to be covered. Here, we can carry him on my towel.” Percy said, stretching his towel out on the floor.

The process of getting the man onto the towel was disgusting, followed by immediately having to carry him up and out of the bunker. Twice, the man almost slipped out of the towel stretcher, and they had to stop constantly. Finally, they reached the surface, and set the man down. 

Digging a small grave turned out to be a lot more work than either of them thought it would be. They were still in the shade from the cliffside, but it didn’t stop the summer heat from setting deep in their bones. By the time they were satisfied with the grave, they were both coursing with sweat, and Jason felt gross. They set the man in the grave, and covered him up.

“Should we say something?” Jason asked.

Percy shrugged his shoulders.

“No.” He said, turning around and back into the bunker.

“Percy!” Jason called. “We should at least say something.”

“Do you want to say anything?”

Jason thought for a moment, and then shrugged as well.

“Not really.”

\----

The waters were gone in an instant, both of them chugging them down as fast as they could. Percy looked like he wanted to collapse onto one of the chairs in the main room, and then looked down at himself and grimaced. He turned to Jason.

“Do you think that tub has a temperature control?” He asked, and together they headed off back into the main bathroom. Percy found the switch for the temperature control next to the door, and turned to Jason.

“Cold or warm?”

“Cold.” He said, shrugging his shirt off. “Don’t make it freezing, though.”

Percy looked a little happy at that, and Jason remembered what Percy had told him about liking cold water.

Jason crouched to untie his shoes, while Percy simply kicked his off, then unbuttoned his pants, letting them fall to the ground. Jason focused on untying his shoes as he heard Percy enter the water, not trusting his eyes to not stare.

Jason finally got his shoes off, and then his pants. He entered the water and sighed. The water was cool and soothing, and the soft stream from one of the jets worked into his back. He closed his eyes, and leaned his head against the ridge of the tub.

He could feel eyes on him, and he raised his head to see Percy staring at him from across the tub. Percy smiled in that way that let Jason know something was up.

“Do you need something?” He asked.

“Nothing, it’s just- you’re pretty far away. Makes a guy feel lonely.” Percy said, that stupid smirk getting bigger. He raised his arms to rest on the ridge, and Jason had to look away because if he didn’t…

“I saw the way you were looking at me before. Like what you see?”

The water was suddenly warm, and Jason let out a small breath.

“I don’t-”

He raised his head and suddenly Percy was there, in front of him. He still had that stupid smile on his face, but his eyes held more. A want, and Jason was unsure why it was turned to him.

“You can tell me to stop, you know. If you want me to.”

Jason couldn’t speak, his mouth was sealed shut. A hand ghosted up his side and he shuddered. 

“We- we shouldn’t… We-”

“Why not?” 

Suddenly Jason couldn’t think of a reason. There had to be one. Hell, there had to be a million reasons why they shouldn’t get any closer than they needed to, and yet- he couldn’t find any.

“We- it won’t work. Between us. We can’t- I have a job to do.”

“This doesn’t have to be anything more if you don’t want it to be. Think of it as some… stress relief. I think we could both use a little relief, right?”

Jason’s brain short circuited, and all he could focus on was Percy. He reached out, tentatively, and traced his hand up Percy’s left arm, the arm that wasn’t touching him, and he pulled it closer to him, closing the gap between them. He got one last glimpse at Percy’s smirk before those lips were on his, and he melted.

Hands roamed in the water, and the tiled room served as an echo chamber, reflecting all of the noises Jason let out right back at him. He should be embarrassed, he thought to himself. The fact that he could be so easily taken apart by a simple kiss. He didn’t care. Not anymore.

Percy’s hand lowered, grasping around his thighs, and he lifted Jason up so Jason was basically straddling him, their bodies pressed so close together that Jason could feel Percy’s heartbeat against his chest. The kiss deepened, and in between gasps for air, and the feeling of hands rendering him weak one touch at a time, Jason let himself smile into the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If only things could stay this good for the two of them...


	28. A Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy enacts a plan, and the enemy makes their appearance.

“The spy has the information. We know where they are.” A voice rasped over the phone.

A smile tugged at the ends of his lips, but he did not allow himself to be satisfied yet. There was still much work to be done, and there was no time for celebrating prematurely. 

“Send me the location. I will go with the others.”

“Boss?” The voice asked, confused.

“If this information is true, I want to be there personally. I want to see the look on his face when he finally realizes just how outmatched he truly is.”

“Are you sure that-”

“Did I ask you to question me, Michael?” He snapped. He shook his head, composed himself, and then continued.

“I will go, and I will crush their pathetic attempt to hide my prize underneath my boots. Is that clear?”

The voice was silent.

“Yes, Boss. Of course. Sending the information now.”

“Good. Let’s get this over with.”

The call went dead.

\----

In the dead of night, Percy makes his move. He slipped out of the large bed, pulled on his pants and shirt, and squeezed between the crack in the bunker door he had left open on purpose so it didn’t cause any creaking noises. Within a minute from getting out of bed, he was outside in the muggy summer air.

He wasn’t proud of what he was doing, but he was out of options. If Jason thought he was just going to take a month long leave of absence, he was mistaken. While Percy had pulled back on his previous activities, he was still actively involved in more projects that anyone knew about. They just weren’t the kind that got people put in jail, or killed. His projects nowadays were more… tame. Tame, but often incredibly important. He didn’t have time to waste.

The walk back to the cabin was long, and it felt a million times worse from the summer heat. The moisture in the air stuck to his skin, and by the time he saw the now familiar ring of cabins, he was again slick with sweat. It didn’t matter. He was leaving this place.

He entered the cabin they had been staying in, the air quiet except for the slight hum of the mini fridge in the corner. He counted the bunk beds until he reached the one he had seen Jason hunched under, and smiled to himself. He knew that Jason had been up to something, and if he had to guess what Jason had been hiding, it was most likely a phone. Something that he could use to call Annabeth or Thalia and let them know where he was.

His plan was a little hazy after that. He knew that there were guards around the area, but he figured if he could cause a distraction, someone might be able to slip in and get him before anyone realized. Maybe he could walk to a nearby rest area, hopefully outside the perimeter of the guards, and wait there? It wasn’t important. What he was focused on was letting someone, anyone, know that he was safe.

He got on his knees and ran his hands along the boards under the bottom, feeling out each one until he found his prize. Finally, after the fourth one, he found it. He pulled it out from under the bed, and stopped cold. That… wasn’t what he was looking for. A silver pistol rested in his hands, the metal cool against his clammy skin. He put in on the floor next to him, and gave it one last glance before going back to his search. Two more boards later, and he found another object.

Pulling it free from under the bed, he saw that it was what he wanted. A simple flip phone, and a small charging cable. He powered the phone on, and immediately started dialing.

“I wouldn’t do that.” A voice called out from the doorway.

Percy cursed, and looked up. Jason was at the entrance to the cabin, his hair disheveled, and his clothes rumpled.

“Sorry, Jason, but I have to get out of here.” He said, continuing to dial. 

Jason took a step forward, and Percy stood up, holding the phone with one hand, and the gun in the other.

“Don’t make me do this, Jason.” He tried.

Jason scoffed.

“Put that down. You probably don’t even know how to use that thing.” He said, taking another step forward.

Percy flicked the safety, and pointed the end at Jason, who stopped for a moment, before stepping forward again.

“I know enough.”

“You wouldn’t-”

Percy aimed and fired, the bullet cutting a close shave to the right of Jason’s head. He heard it pierce the thin cabin wall, and ping off somewhere else.

“Okay, maybe I was wrong.” Jason said, stepping back a little bit.

“Lots of people are about me.” Percy said.

Jason ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated with how things were going.

“Why are you even doing this? What’s so important that you have to put yourself at risk like this? I mean, you do realize these guys are after you, right? They won’t stop until they get whatever it is they want.”

“I’ll deal with whatever they throw at me. I always have. Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing this if I had a choice, okay? But there are more important things going on right now than my personal safety.”

“Like what? What could possibly be worth more than your life?”

Percy rolled his eyes.

“Lots of things. A tanker spilled a few million gallons of oil off the coast last week, who do you think is organizing some of the clean up? This shit doesn’t just magically happen, you know.”

“That can’t possibly be all on you. There have to be people who take care of this stuff that doesn’t involve your father’s companies.”

“I’m organizing two different law firms, eight clean up crews, 3 charities, and dozens of lobbyists who are going to go to Washington in a few days to try and get politicians to take action. Sure, some of this stuff could happen with someone else at the helm, but I have the responsibility to do what I can to help, and this is what I can do. No one else can do this like I can, which is what I’m working on fixing, or- I would be, if I wasn’t stuck in this god forsaken camp.”

He finished dialing, and held the phone up to his ear, signaling for Jason to keep quiet.

He wasn’t sure who to call at first, Annabeth or Thalia. They were most likely working together to figure out where he was, but he needed them to pick up the call. Annabeth had a tendency to hang up on any call she thought was a spam call, but Thalia most likely had Jason’s number saved in her phone, at least, if he really was her brother.

“Jason? What’s- Have you heard anything about- Please tell me you know something, I think Percy is-”

“Right here.” Percy said.

“Percy! What the fuck is wrong with you? Where are you?”

“Nice to hear from you as well, Thals. It’s a long story, but I’m at that camp we were at two years ago. The rundown piece of shit? Funny thing, I think I found something you lost here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well today, but I don’t think he likes me right now. Say hi, Jason!” He called, holding the phone out.

Jason looked unsure, but Percy beckoned with the gun in his hand.

“H- Hey, Thalia.” He called, sounding a little ashamed.

Percy put the phone back against his ear, and enjoyed the long string of curses that Thalia let out.

“Oh my god, you- you know? Then… Camp Jupiter… they took you?”

“Bingo, Thalia, although I must say, it hurts to know you were keeping such a big secret from your favorite friend like this.”

“Screw you, Percy. This- I wanted to say something, I promise, but I’m not about to get on a mercenary group’s bad side like you are, I guess.”

“All is forgiven if you come pick us up as soon as possible. We’ll meet you at a grocery store outside of the campgrounds. Where’s Annabeth?”

“Sleeping. She didn’t sleep at all last night, and she’s only asleep now because she crashed hard after a few energy drinks. Don’t worry, Percy. We’ll be there.”

“I’m counting on it. See you in a few, hopefully.”

He went to hang up, but Thalia yelled out.

“Wait! Should I- Should we call the cavalry? You know, police and all that stuff?”

“No. Listen, I’ll deal with that when we get back to the city, but right now, I just want to get out of here, and let’s be honest, I’m not sure your brother here is exactly someone who needs any kind of cop examining his past.”

“Fine, I guess you’re right, but- Percy? Please be careful, okay? Let’s do this safely.”

“Thalia, I’m wounded. Have I ever-”

The call hung up before he could finish, and he chuckled to himself. He flipped the phone closed, tucking it into his back pocket.

“I couldn’t help but notice you included me as someone who’s going with you.” Jason said from his spot at the door.

Percy shrugged.

“I need a driver.”

\----

Jason wasn’t sure how he thought his job guarding Percy was going to go, but he definitely didn’t expect to lose him on the first night. That was… on him, he guessed. He underestimated the other man, right from the start. He drummed his fingers along the steering wheel as they pulled out from the camp parking lot.

Percy sat in the seat next to him, keeping the gun trained on him at all times. As much as Jason hated to admit it, Percy had full control of the situation as long as he had that gun. 

“So, was it all fake? Everything that happened back there?”

Percy looked a little uncomfortable, but he kept his aim steady.

“Is this even worth discussing? When this is all over, I don’t think we’ll be talking much anymore.”

“Humor me, then. Just between us, was anything real? I mean, we just met, so don’t think you’re breaking my heart here, but…”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this. I mean, this was literally one of my biggest plays, back in the day. I would hang out with some CEO’s daughter, their son… I’d use them to get access to their house… I must be out of practice, or something.” He said, and there was something in his voice that made Jason pause.

“What makes you say that? It seems like this went pretty well for you.”

“Because they always meant nothing to me. I don’t know about you.”

Jason hated the way that one line made his breath hitch in his throat, but he swallowed past it.

“We’ve only just met. It’s fair that you don’t know me.”

“That’s the thing. It’s like- I do know you. Longer than just tonight, or when we first met. I just- I feel like I’ve known you for a lot longer.”

Jason’s grip on the wheel tightened. There was something he could identify with in those words, he had just not known how to say it. It was partly why he had been excited to take the assignment in the first place. Despite only knowing the other man for a few hours, he had felt a connection that he couldn’t turn away from.

“I think I know what you mean,” He said quietly.

He checked the tree line, recognizing a sign that signaled one of the borders they had established beforehand. He sighed and shook his head, hating himself for what he was about to do.

“Get low. There’s a patrol up ahead. They can’t see you.”

Percy unbuckled his seat belt and sank close to the floor, keeping his gun trained on Jason the entire time.

“Is that really necessary?” Jason asked. “I just told you crucial information here.”

“Nothing personal, just can’t take chances.” Percy said, his voice muffled from how he had positioned himself on the floor.

Jason saw the reflective coating of the first guard’s vest, and slowed down a little, waving to the guard as he passed. The man waved back, and then turned back to whatever he had been doing before.

“Is that it?” Percy said, starting to fidget from where he sat.

“Few more up ahead. Stay low.” Jason said.

There was only one more stop, but Percy didn’t have to know that. He considered it a little revenge for the whole ‘trick you into thinking we had something’ shtick.

“So, what exactly is your plan once we meet up with your friends? Is it my turn to be taken hostage?”

Percy laughed.

“I can’t take you as a hostage if Thalia kills you first, right?” He shook his head.

“You’re free to go back to your job. I’m not going to keep you with me, even if I wanted to. I have a feeling you have better things to do.”

“That’s good. I don’t think I could take anymore of you and that accent.”

Percy frowned, and sat up.

“What accent? I don’t- I don’t have any accent.”

Jason was about to tell him to get back down, but stopped.

“Are you joking?” He asked Percy.

Percy looked lost. 

“You’ve seriously never realized you have an accent? No one ever told you?”

“No, because I don’t have one…” He trailed off, still looking confused.

“Say car.”

“Car.”

“Oh my god, how can you not hear that? It’s- It’s not like a crazy accent, but you definitely sound like a New Yorker.”

“That’s not an accent, that’s just how normal people talk. If anything, you’re the one with an accent.”

Jason shook his head a little.

“Tell yourself that all you want, but do it on the floor, would you? There’s another checkpoint ahead.”

Percy muttered something to himself, Jason barely catching snippets of the words “accent” and “crazy if he thinks-” amongst the murmuring.

They continued past the checkpoint and drove in silence. It was a comfortable silence, if one could be had when there was a gun pointed at him the entire time. Then Percy had to go and ruin it.

“Is it- is it a nice accent?” He asked suddenly. Jason glanced at him.

“I mean…” He ran a hand through his hair to buy him some time. “Yeah, it’s… I’d say it’s a cute accent.”

Percy sputtered, and fought to pull himself back up.

“I never asked if it was cute, I just wanted to know if I sounded like I’m in fucking Newsies or not.”

“No, you don’t sound like a poor child starting a union.”

“Thank you, that’s all I wanted to know. I’m not fucking cute.”

Jason gave him a weary glance.

“You’re literally pouting right now.”

“I’m brooding!”

Jason raised his hand in mock surrender.

“Whatever,” He said, and there was more silence.

A set of headlights appeared in the distance, and Jason scrunched his eyes to try and see further.

"What the hell?" He said, more to himself then anything, but Percy leaned in to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?"

Jason kept his eyes trained on the headlights, which were quickly approaching.

"I think- Is it just me, or is he driving on the wrong side of the road?"

Percy squinted, and looked at the car. For a moment, Jason knew that he could use the opprotunity to wrestle the gun from Percy, as it had fallen into a loose grip at his side, but there were more important things to worry about.

"Flash your lights at him."

Jason followed the suggestions, flashing his lights a few times, but the car remained steadfast.

"Fuck, switch lanes, then. Maybe he thinks its a one way?"

Jason moved to the left lane, and a lump formed in his throat as the car in front of them moved to meet them. Even worse, when they moved to the right, Jason could see another car behind them, staying in the first lane so the road was completely blocked.

"Oh shit, turn around! Get us out of here!"

Jason swerved the car to the right, not quite making the entire circle and backed up a little, before hitting the gas to go forward. The car was close to them, and gaining speed every second. Even with the pedal to the floor, their car wasn't going to gain enough speed to outrun the other car.

The car behind them was a few hundred yards behind them, closing in quickly, and Jason yelled out.

"Put your seatbelt on!" 

As soon as he saw Percy follow his command, he yanked the steering wheel to the right, and with a heavy bump, they were off the road and into the forest.

"Holy fuck, holy fuck! Watch out!" Percy yelled, his hand in an iron grip on the door handle.

"I know! Don't tell me-"

The car behind them nudged the back of the car, causing it to veer slightly, and Jason swore loudly. He jerked hard to the left, trying to get back on the road. He was hoping to lose them in the trees, but they were having no issues keeping up. A shot rang out, and the car completely went out from his control.

"They shot the tire!" Percy yelled, and Jason knew he had no choice but to hit the breaks. If they hit something at this speed, it would kill them.

He tried to stop the car, but the car behind them didn't slow down at all, and it was fully pushing them forward, even as Jason tried to move out of the way. Another shot and the unresponsiveness of the wheel let Jason know they had completely robed him of any control over the situation, and Jason held a hand out for Percy.

"Give me the gun!" He yelled, and Percy moved to give it to him, but before he could get a grip on the cold steel, the car hit a tree full force, and before his vision went black, all Jason could hear was the horrible screech of metal as the car folded around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't looking good, but I'm sure in the next chapter things will get better.
> 
> Also, little news update: I'm going to go back to previous chapters and do a little editing. Don't worry, it's not going to be anything big that requires a reread, I'm just streamlining things, making some information more consistent and what not. There will be no important information changing, it just might be worded in a different way, a way in which will be more consistent with how information is portrayed going forwards.


	29. An End

The constant ringing in his ears was the first thing that let Jason know that he was still alive. His body ached, and he could already tell that he would have a nasty seatbelt shaped bruise if he made it out of this. 

As he came out of the haze of his unconsciousness, he could feel hands on him, unbuckling his seatbelt and pulling him from the car. He tried to resist, but every movement felt like he was being stabbed. He gasped for breath, and was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, his back hitting against the trunk of a tree.

He opened his eyes and squinted. The headlights from the car were still on, and blasting light directly into his eyeballs. He shifted his head to the side to avoid the beam, and saw another man dragging Percy to another tree next to him. His head was lolling to the side, and he didn’t make any attempt to struggle. 

From what Jason could make out, there were three people in total. The two men who had gotten them out of the car, and then the last man, who was leaning against one of the cars. His lax posture was betrayed by the expression on his face. Jason figured that someone standing like he was would be disinterested, or bored, but this man had his full attention on them. 

The man noticed him staring and smiled at him. Jason shuddered a little at his gaze, and the man rightened himself and started walking over to them. His progress was slow, a limp in his left leg slowed him down considerably, but when one of the other men offered to help him, he just slapped their hand away, never taking his eyes off him and Percy.

“Do you know who I am?” He asked in a whisper when he was close to them, hunching over, yet towering over them from where they sat on the ground. He didn’t wait for them to answer before he continued.

“You two… you have caused me quite a bit of trouble, you have. How strange is it that you two have found your way to each other? I was planning on hunting you both down individually, but… fate works in odd ways, it seems.”

Percy groaned, which apparently warranted a sharp kick to the gut from the man who had been standing over him. Percy’s eyes shot open, and he let out a wheeze before sucking in a breath, frantically taking in all of his surroundings. Jason met his eyes when he glanced his way, and opened his mouth to speak.

“No speaking, please. I’m not done yet.” The man with the gun said quickly, waving it in between the two of them. The words died on Jason’s tongue, and he nodded, giving a quick glance back over at Percy before turning his attention to the man. 

“Good, I’m glad we have that all sorted. Now, I’m sure you both have some questions, but if I have to hear your insufferable voices at any point, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in you. I’d prefer to keep you both alive for now, but… Well, I’m not beholden to that idea. My plans can work just as well with your corpses. It’s your choice.”

Jason didn’t have to look at Percy to know that they both nodded at the statement. They were in no position to aggravate their aggressor, especially when they knew next to nothing about him or his associates.

“Good, I’m so glad we can all be sensible here. Based on your past records, I was expecting a bit more.... Snark? Mr. Jackson? Anything to say? Perhaps a comment on my physical appearance, the way I hold my gun? No?”

He turned to Jason.

“You… You are the real enigma here. I can’t say I know a whole lot about you except from what I’ve been told. You don’t exactly leave many people alive to tell tales, do you?” He trained his gun on Percy.

“You can say anything right now, and I promise I’ll only shoot him. You’d be totally spared. Anything? A catchphrase, maybe? A witty one liner?”

Jason stared him down, keeping a level expression on his face. A tight shake of his head was the only move he allowed his body to make. He didn’t trust himself not to rush the man the first chance he got, he couldn’t risk that either he or Percy wouldn’t be shot. He might have been mad at the other guy, but at the end of the day, he was still on the job, regardless of the fact that Percy had been in the process of ruining said job.

“Damn. How disappointing.”

Then, without any hesitation, he aimed the gun at Percy’s chest, and fired.

\----

If there was anything Percy was sure of in the universe, in all of its incredible vastness and mystery, he was sure that this was punishment. If he was sure of anything, it was that he deserved the bullet that had just lodged itself into his gut. No, he thought, as his vision went momentarily black with the pain. He deserved worse.

They said that your life was supposed to flash before your eyes when you were faced with death, but what Percy saw was more like a slideshow of some of his greatest shames. An image of him handing a wrapped gift box to Luke, the last time he was the other man. 

The newspaper headline detailing the fire he had paid someone to start at one of Titan’s secret warehouses, storing hundreds of thousands of weapons and contraband, all of which had mysteriously not been talked about. What had been discussed.... The discovery of a body, apparently caught in the fire, a corpse so badly burnt that no ID could be made. That had been a bad day, Percy remembered. It had been the man he had hired, a noted arsonist, yes, but at the end of the day, he had still been responsible for a human being’s death. 

He saw each and every time he had to lie to Annabeth about what he was really doing in his free time, even when they were supposed to be in it together. He had wanted to protect her from what he was doing, but she had always seen right through him. Each and every lie was a wedge in their relationship, until that night at the camp, where it had finally cracked wide open. He wondered if he was ever going to get a chance to finish mending that gap, or if she would just have to settle with mourning at his funeral.

Every lie, every backstab, his ruthless and callous actions all played out in his head, and each memory made the gunshot hurt a little less, because he knew he should be hurt more. One gunshot wound wasn’t enough to cleanse his sin, it didn’t erase the lives he had ruined. When his vision finally returned to him, the blackness fleeing from the corners of his sight, he was dismayed to see that the man no longer had his gun trained on him, instead, he had carefully pointed at Jason. Jason looked like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to throw up, or tear the man to pieces with his bare hands, but Percy didn’t want him to get hurt for his sake. 

The man said something to the two men guarding them that Percy still couldn’t quite make out over the ringing in his ears, and they moved off back to the car parked furthest from them. He saw the inner car lights turn on as they rummaged for something in the backseat, but he slid his eyes back over to the man with the gun. His head lolled as he tried to keep it up, and then fell, and suddenly all he could see was slightly to the left of him.

A chill ran through him, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the blood loss, shock, or the silver glint of the gun, only five feet from where he had been propped up, only missed by the guard by some overgrown grass and twigs.

\----

Jason had barely moved to go rush to Percy’s side after the gunshot when the man was already swiveling his aim so that the gun was pointed at him, instead.

“Going somewhere?” The man asked, a stupid smile on his face.

Jason wanted to claw that smile off of his face with his bare hands. He wanted to beat the man until he was bloody pulp, and then go back for a second round. He wanted to do every heinous act he had been taught by the Camp, and yet all he could do was remain where he sat, and force the tension to leave his body so the man would stop looking at him like he was about to spring on him. He needed to get the gun pointed away from him, because the next time it was, then he really was going to jump at the man, and do everything in his power to wrestle that damned gun away from him.

“Sorry about the gunshot, Percy, I just couldn’t help myself.” The man said, but Percy looked like he had passed out at some point.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive me, don’t you think? Just like he’ll forgive you for getting him shot, right?”

Jason opened his mouth to retort, but stopped himself. The man’s grin only widened.

“Damn, I really can’t get to you, can I? I guess that tracks with what I’ve seen from other Camp Jupiter members. You guys are always such a tough nut to crack. I’m sure we’ll get there in due time.”

He snapped his fingers, and pointed at the back car.

“Get the kit from the back. In fact, get both kits. I have a feeling we are going to have lots of fun tonight.”

With his command, both men went off to get the ‘kits’, which Jason did not want any involvement with, especially after seeing the pure glee that had entered the man’s eyes as he issued the order.

“Normally, I like to do this sort of stuff in a closed environment, but it’s nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while, don’t you think? Don’t worry, I don’t think it’ll kill you or anything. Him on the other hand… I guess time will tell. The cocktail can be a little strong sometimes.”

He smiled at Jason, and tilted his head to the side.

“You’re very lucky, you know? Not very many people get to receive my special mix, and I’ve even tweaked the formula just for tonight. The test run at the club proved that the formula was just a little too strong, but now… it’s just right. A perfect mix of truth serum, a light hallucinogen, and my very own strain of aphrodisiac… By the end of the hour, all your secrets shall be mine.”

Percy shifted slightly, and the man swung the gun back around to him. Jason wanted to take his chance, but he couldn’t risk it.

“Ah! I wouldn’t move if I were you, Jackson. That’s right, that’s a good boy. Just for that, you can go first when those stooges get back. In fact, what the hell is taking those morons so long. Hey! What’s the hold up?” He called out to the car. For a moment, his aim shifted slightly, and Jason seized his opportunity, lunging forward.

He was too slow. A pop filled the night air once more, and he crashed to the floor.

\----

Percy stared at the gun, and inched forward to reach it, stopping dead in his tracks when the man ordered him to. He needed some kind of distraction to get it, but he couldn’t think of anything. He cursed out his luck. If the gun was only a little closer… If it had landed somewhere different…

His vision faded for a moment, and he was worried he was about to faint from the blood loss, but when his vision cleared, his eyes widened in shock. The gun, which before had been about five feet to his left, was now.... Closer? He couldn’t tell if he was just seeing things or not, but it definitely looked a lot closer than it had been before. But it still wasn’t close enough. It wouldn’t do him any good. He could hear the man still talking, and just as he was about to test whatever had just happened again to see if he could repeat it, chaos broke out.

Jason burst from his spot on the ground, arms outstretched towards the man. For a moment, a singular frame of time, Percy thought he could do it. He would reach the man before he could aim at either of them, and they could turn the tables. The universe had other plans however, and before he could think, the man aimed straight at Jason, and fired.

Jason collapsed to the ground, holding a hand to his stomach. His shirt was quickly dying a dark crimson red, but before Percy could do anything to help, the man was pointing his gun at him.

“Stay there!” He growled at him, before glancing at Jason. Percy didn’t have any time, he couldn’t think of anything he could do, so instead, he just reacted. He outstretched his arm forward, like he was holding a gun, and at the sight of him moving, the man turned his attention to him again. He scoffed.

“The blood loss getting to you?” He asked, scratching his head with the barrel of the gun, and giving out a dark laugh. 

Percy willed everything in his body, his soul, for something to happen. He envisioned in his mind the gun, and where it had landed. He thought of what had occurred that had brought him to where he was, everything that had made the gun land where it had, and he… edited.

In his mind’s eye, the gun hadn’t landed five feet to his left, it had landed… behind him. Yes, that was right. The gun was behind him the entire time. When he lifted his hand… the gun was in it, he had retrieved it from his back. His vision darked again, harsher this time, and it took enormous strength to clear it once more, but when he did, there was a new weight in his palm. The gun glimmered from where he angled it in the air, and the man’s eyebrows scrunched up.

“When did you-” He managed to get out before Percy pulled the trigger, and shot him directly in the face. Two more shots took care of the goons who had come running at the sound of gunshots, two heavy duffel bags in their hands preventing them from reacting fast enough to pull out their own guns.

The gun fell to the floor, his strength quickly escaping him. Percy used what little energy he could muster to drag himself, inch by inch, towards Jason’s fallen figure. He ignored the pain in his gut, the darkness that now threatened to consume his sight entirely, and let out a pained scream when a particular movement made his body vibrate with pain.

He tugged on Jason’s shirt, turning him over so he could see what they were working with, but jerked backwards. There was no life left on Jason’s face by the time he turned him around, all of his essence drained out through the bullet hole that quickly leaked blood from the middle of his chest, right where his heart was.

All of the air left his lungs, and he stumbled away, ignoring his body’s protests to his sudden movement. His eyes watered from the pain, but he wasn’t sure what hurt worse, the physical, or the emotional. He hadn’t planned for this. He didn’t want this.

He wiped sluggishly at his face, and then closed his eyes, whispering frantically to himself.

“Please work, please work.” He repeated to himself over and over again as he tried to recreate what he had managed to do with the gun.

He thought of Jason, the path that had brought him to where he was now, the trajectory of the bullet, and he tried to edit it like he had done last time. Jason hadn’t been shot in the heart, the bullet missed, right? Percy had shot the man before he could hurt Jason any more, right? The universe answered his question.

No.

A current ran through his body like he had been shocked, and Percy collapsed to the ground, all of the strength leaving his body. He could barely move his head an inch to the left or right, which left him staring at the night sky, and the millions of stars that filled it.

Request rejected, he thought to himself deliriously, and without warning, a laugh erupted from his mouth, crazed and desperate. Of course it wasn’t that easy, why would it have been? Memories began to seep through the haze that remained, more than just the missing days he had forgotten, now he saw memories of his other life.

“Pretty shit first start,” He mumbled to himself, the ringing in his ears constant now. No, it wasn’t ringing, it was sirens. The night air was filled with sirens, the trees colored with red and blue, and suddenly a dozen or so people burst onto the scene. He was lost in the buzz of it all, he couldn’t concentrate on anything that was happening.

A mop of blonde hair filled his vision, and a dot of black hair next to it, but he looked beyond them. They tried talking to him, he could tell. They tried to ask him questions about what had happened. He could tell the dark haired one was particularly upset when she saw Jason’s body, but…

It didn’t matter.

\----

Percy blinked once, and suddenly the night air was replaced by stark white. The pain in his stomach disappeared, and he slowly climbed to his feet.

Welcome back.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to take a deep breath. He tried to calm himself down, telling himself that it was okay, but the truth was- it wasn’t. None of this was.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked, his voice shakier than he wanted it to be.

What aspect was unfamiliar to you?

“What- What aspect? All of it? Why the fuck would you put me in a timeline where I’m being actively hunted down by a crazed psychopath? I thought the whole point of this was to save Jason! You couldn’t have put me in the reality where his worst enemy is like, a pissed off librarian or something?”

The original plan I had laid out was compromised. It appears fate is fighting back against your plans with more force than anticipated. It will require some readjustments in the worlds I will pick. I would advise against trying to alter events as you did. The universe can bite back when tampered with.

"Did you at least get any valuable data from it? Can you do anything about my memory being wiped?"

Negative. While the data is proving incredibly informative, something of that caliber still remains outside of my capabilities. However, I will be able to implant an urge in your subconsciousness next time, an instinctive knowledge that you must protect Jason for the next few days.

"That could work. I'd still need to be able to do something about the threat though. It sucked not having any of my power."

Please let me know of any parameters you wish for world selection. My first attempt was based on incomplete information on your desires and needs. 

“That world sucked. The me who lived there sucked. The things he- I did… Why would you send me to a place like that? My friends, too. Their lives were so different from before. Why did I go there, out of all of the worlds out there?”

In order for your friends to resemble the personalities you are accustomed to, their lives have to be shaped a certain way. Certain events need to happen, like a major event when you turn sixteen, Annabeth having family troubles, Jason being separated from his family in his youth, P-

“About that, can we switch that up next time? I think things will go a lot smoother if Jason and I actually know about each other before I get sent there.”

Be aware that a significant change such as that can alter a personality beyond what you recognize.

“I’ll take my chances. Besides, it’s not like I’m stuck there with that version forever, right?”

…

“This is the part where you say ‘Right’, or even, ‘Of course’...”

…

“Please say something.”

It appears I neglected to inform you of what happens should you complete your task. In order for your actions in saving Jason to have any effect on other realities, you would need to make the world in which he is saved the new Prime. That would require-

“Me to be stuck there for the rest of my life.”

That is correct. Once you have chosen a new Prime reality, all others will become unavailable to you. That is why I have tried to maintain some resemblance to what you are accustomed to, in order to make you most comfortable. 

“Well, I wish I knew this sooner, but thanks for the information, I guess.” He said bitterly.

Percy pinched the bridge of his nose, and breathed out.

“Fuck it. If I’m going to be stuck in a world, then I have some things I want put into the next place.”

Understood.

“Alright, then. Let’s go for round two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason:0  
> Fate:1


	30. Begin Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Round 2 begins. Percy tries to have a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end section of this chapter is pretty brutal, so a quick warning to anyone who is squeamish.

Percy opened his eyes and sighed. The dull ceiling above him was the same as it always was. He was already suspecting he was going to miss it in the coming days.

‘What a weird dream’ He thought to himself, as he got up from his bed and moved through his morning routine on autopilot. He tried to replay through the dream, keep it in his mind so he wouldn’t forget it like he did all his other dreams, but already, he could only remember bits and pieces. A white space. A monotone voice echoing throughout. A gunshot. Bright lights in his eyes.

The only thing he could remember clear as day was that Jason had been there.

HIs mother called him from the other room, and he let the thoughts drift away. If he couldn’t remember it, it was that important, he decided. As he walked into the kitchen, he almost ran straight into Paul, who was hurrying towards the door.

“Hey, Percy. I’ve got to run for a school meeting, but I’ll see you later, okay?” Paul said, ruffling Percy’s hair as he went by. Percy mumbled something in response, and tried to fix his hair back into place.

He liked Paul. He was good for his mother, better than her previous ex. It was still a little awkward to think of the guy as his father, especially when he still saw his birth father every so often, but it was nice that Paul at least tried. Poseidon… he wasn’t the best at showing he cared.

“Morning.” His mother said as she peeked over a set of papers in her hands. Probably some material from her latest manuscript, he mused as he buttered a piece of toast. She had a deadline coming up, and he knew she had been up late the previous night from the heavy mug of decaf tea beside her. He couldn’t stand the stuff, but he knew it was important for the baby’s health.

“I’m going out later,” He said, taking a seat across from her. She nodded absently, still focused on something written on the page.

“That’s good.” She said, taking a sip of her drink. “There’s not much time left, is there?”

He paused.

“What?”

“Of summer break? It’s already August, can you believe it?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess it is almost time for school to start up.”

He was going to be starting at the local community college, at least to get his basics. It was a fraction of the price of the more traditional university, and he hadn’t done well enough in school to get any scholarships, unlike Annabeth, who had schools practically begging for her to attend.

“Where are you going?” She asked, looking up from her papers.

“Just downtown. Annabeth wanted to do something fun before she has to leave again.”

“How is she? You never talk about her, but I’m worried. All alone over there, it must be hard for someone so young.”

“She’s fine, honestly. We text sometimes, and she has a ton of friends over there.”

His mother gave him a long look, and then sighed.

“I really thought you two were going to make it work.” Percy shifted in his seat. He hated this talk, no matter how many times he had explained it to his mom, she always brought it up.

“We- Look, I’ve already explained this a million times. We just didn’t work anymore. That’s all there is to it. She’s happy. I’m happy. It’s over.”

Sally frowned at him, but she nodded, and some of the tension in the room evaporated.

“Anyone else going?” She asked, returning to her tea.

“I don’t know. She was the one who made the plans. I just was told to meet them at some cafe.”

“Well, have fun. Do you think you’ll be out late?”

“No, I’ll probably be back in time for dinner. I need to get up early for tomorrow.”

With that, he went back to his room and got ready for the rest of the day. He changed from into an unassuming dark blue shirt and black jeans. If Piper was there, she would probably have a word with him about his bland fashion sense, but it was fine for his tastes. He didn’t like wearing anything that made people look at him for too long. He didn’t need the added attention.

He spent the rest of his free time on his phone, scrolling through his friends online pages. Thalia had posted a picture of herself at some concert from the other night. In the background of the picture, he could see an unimpressed Jason behind her, making a blank face at the camera. He smiled, and liked the picture. Jason had been texting him that night, complaining non stop about the music and the loud volume like an old man.

Piper posted a link to an awareness campaign for her father’s charity foundation, and some pictures of herself on set at some show. He remembered something about her nabbing tickets to be in the audience of some late night show. In the seat next to her, Nico smiled shyly at the camera, half hiding in his hoodie that he insisted on wearing despite the oppressive heat the city was facing. Will was pressing his face to Nico’s, making a stupid face at the camera.

Annabeth’s page was objectively… very boring. Percy wasn’t sure that she understood the concept of social media, because most of her accounts were fan pages for various architects and ancient Greek philosophers. The latest quote she had posted was from Inferno. The quote read:

“Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”

He didn’t agree with that line. He had always thought that fate was a malleable thing, waiting to be changed by a person’s actions and thoughts, but he wasn’t about to argue with some dead guy.

He didn’t really have the right to critique Annabeth’s social media presence. His own pages were dull, he almost never posted, and unlike his other friends, all of his pages were set to private and his usernames never gave away his name. He had learned the hard way to never use his name. He didn’t need the attention that came with it.

The last page he looked at, the one he kept coming back to time and time again, was Luke’s. The monochrome picture at the top of the page stared at him, that same accusing look in his eyes just like every other time he searched it up. He scrolled down quickly and took a moment to look at the last few photos that had been posted on the account.

The comments had been disabled on some of the posts, and Percy knew without looking that it was probably the ones with him in them. There weren’t many, Luke had always been more Annabeth’s friend than his, but there were still a few from when they had all hung out together, and Percy found himself staring at his own face multiple times as he scrolled down.

He checked the time, and sighed. It was time to leave if he wanted to be on time, but the bed beneath him was calling for him to stay. He wanted to stay and sleep away the day, but he knew that Annabeth would just march up to his room and drag him along anyways, so he opted to take the easier option and just head out on his own.

He waved goodbye to his mom as he left, and promised to be back before dark one last time. He made his way to the ground floor quickly, calling a cab and giving them the address he had been told to meet at. A few minutes later, he was standing in front of a small cafe. He glanced inside and caught a flash of blonde hair as a head whipped towards the window, and Annabeth stared back at him. She waved, and he opened the door, which gave a small little ring as he went in.

“Hey, Seaweed Brain. Are you ready for today?”

“I don’t even know what we’re doing. You refused to tell me anything, remember?”

“That should be a sign that I have something big planned! I’m actually a little surprised that you’re the first one here, though. I would have thought Thalia would get here first.”

“She’s probably dragging along Jason, though.”

Annabeth tilted her head.

Oh, he had forgotten that she didn’t really know Jason. By the time Jason was coming into the picture, she was getting ready to leave for college.

“He’s still in tourist mode.” He explained. “He stops like every five feet to look or buy something he likes. I swear, he’s gotten scammed more times than an actual tourist. He has like no sense of street smarts.”

Jason had moved to New York two years ago, and Annabeth had left one year ago, graduating high school a year early and moving across the Atlantic Ocean for a London university. Things had been… difficult, the first year Jason had arrived in New York, so the two had never really had a lot of time to bond, but Percy knew that they would get along fine.

“So, who all is coming?” He asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Just a few people. Piper, Nico, Thalia, Will, Jason. I tried to invite Reyna and Grover, but she has a competition coming up, and Grover is at some retreat upstate.”

Percy hummed his acknowledgement, but frowned.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen Grover. It seems like every time you’re back here, he’s off doing some nature thing.”

Annabeth shrugged.

“You know him, he’s always off saving the planet.”

Before he could say anything else, the bell on the door chimed, and he turned to see Jason and Thalia walking towards them. Jason looked downtrodden, and Thalia pulled him by the arm to move faster. Thalia sat down to the left of Annabeth, and Jason took a seat next to him.

“What’s wrong with Golden Boy?” Percy asked, giving Thalia a quizzical look.

“He’s mad I didn’t let him waste twenty dollars on a card game on the way here.”

Jason looked up and scoffed.

“I could have won all of the money in that hat! It had to be a couple hundred dollars, and she wouldn’t let me even try!”

Thalia looked unimpressed, and Percy bit back a laugh.

“You do realize those things are more rigged than a carnival game, right? There’s literally no way you would have won.”

“Then explain the guy who won while I was watching!”

“He was probably working with the guy. It’s a trick to get people to think they can win, so they spend all their money trying to.”

Jason didn’t look convinced, but he at least dropped the topic, instead opting to put in an order at the counter.

They talked amongst themselves for a while longer while they waited for the others to arrive. Annabeth regaled them with tales of England, while Thalia stole bits of pastry from Jason’s plate. Percy relaxed a little bit, but always kept an eye on the people around them. The cafe was, thankfully, pretty empty. Annabeth had probably thought of it beforehand, but there was always a chance that someone would recognize him, and he didn’t want to deal with it now.

Piper arrived first, shortly followed by Nico and Will. They talked in a quiet murmur while they got plates of food and drinks. Percy had even caved and bought himself a blueberry muffin and a small black tea. When it looked like everyone was done, or at least close to done, Annabeth cleared her throat.

“Okay, I’m sure you are all wondering why I brought you all here today.” She said, and Percy noted that her voice wavered a little bit.

“I’ve called you all here because… Well… God, this is hard to say.”

“Everything okay?” Percy asked.

“Yes. Well, maybe? I- I don’t know how to say this, but I wanted you all here because you all deserve to know what’s going on.”

“Get to the point, please. You’re kind of freaking me out here,” Thalia said, putting her drink down.

“I’m getting to that, I promise. I just want- I’m going to explain, okay? Just let me say this, then wait a few moments, take some time to process, and I’ll explain everything.”

All eyes were on her, and she took a moment to take in a deep breath, and then let it out through her nose.

“Someone is making a movie about it.”

Without saying anything else, everyone at the table instantly knew exactly what she was talking about. Instantly, the table was abuzz with activity. Piper stood up fast, knocking her chair down behind her. Nico had gone pale, and Will had a frozen expression on his face as he lightly gripped his shoulder. Thalia was shouting something, and Annabeth looked like she was trying to explain, but Percy didn’t hear anything else.

The world had gone mute around him, and he looked down quickly. His heartbeat sped up, and he could feel himself start to breath faster. He had to leave, he thought to himself. How far could he make it down the street before everything inside him came to a raging boil? What was he- How was he going to-

A hand gripped his, and the world came back into focus. He looked to his right, and saw Jason, the worry clear in his eyes.

“You okay?” He asked, his grip firm and grounding.

Percy nodded slowly, and murmured a quick ‘thanks’ and turned back to the scene in front of them. Thalia was making a scene, and Annabeth was trying to take control of the situation, but it didn’t seem like anyone was listening.

“Can I just- Will you let me- Listen!” She said, finally snapping everyone back to attention.

Thalia stopped mid shout, and then closed her mouth. She sat back down, and folded her arms.

“I didn’t want you guys to find out from some gossip magazine or something, but- There’s this group, a film group. They heard our story from some news article, and they want to do a feature length documentary about it. They’ve already talked to me, and-”

“And you said no, right?” Thalia said, her watchful gaze burning into Annabeth. 

“I- I said yes.”

Another round of shouts and flailing started, and a waitress hurried out to confront them.

“Please, can you all quiet down? The noise will disturb our other patrons.” She said.

Piper looked around.

“But we’re the only ones here.” She said.

The waitress looked surprised. She looked around the room as well.

“Oh, I guess you’re right. But still, if someone were to come in and hear you, it would be bad for business, so if you could all-”

She stopped, and squinted her eyes.

“Wait a minute, aren’t you-” She turned her eyes to Percy, and her face went white.

Without another word, she stepped away from the table, hurrying behind her counter and into the kitchen area.

People tended to have that reaction when they recognized him.

Annabeth looked stricken, but she pressed on when everyone turned back to her.

“This is what I’m talking about! People still see us like we did something wrong! I think- If we could get a grip on the narrative, we could turn all of this around. We could make things somewhat normal again.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” Percy whispered, but everyone heard him clearly. He looked up at Annabeth, and stood up. Without saying anything else, he was walking away, desperate to get away from the others before he said anything stupid.

He could hear a few cries of protest, Piper asked him to come back and talk, but he didn’t turn around. A chair squeaked as someone pushed their chair to get up, and he had a sneaking suspicion who it was without looking.

He made it outside and was already trying to get a cab when the person behind him caught up, placing a hand on his shoulder. The same hand that had brought him back to reality earlier.

“Hey, wait up.” Jason said.

“I’m not going back in there. I don’t want to see everyone look at me like I’m something fragile.”

“I never said you had to go back. If anything, I was going to ask where we were going?”

Percy looked at him.

“They’d wonder why you left with me instead of Thalia.”

Jason smiled at him, and Percy felt some of his bitterness wash away. He couldn’t stay mad when Jason looked at him like that.

“Let them.”

A taxi pulled to the curb, and Jason held the door open for him, and Percy rolled his eyes. Jason climbed into the cab behind him and pulled the door shut.

Percy told the man an address close to his home, and they were off. He didn’t like to give anyone his actual apartment address. The last thing he needed was some paparazzi, or apparently now some amatuer film makers, showing up at his door unannounced.

The taxi dropped them off quickly, and Jason paid the fare before Percy could pull out his wallet. Percy could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket, but he chose to ignore it as he got out of the cab.

He stood across from Jason, and shook his head.

“I don’t look like I’ve been crying, do I?” He asked. He didn’t want his mother to worry about him.

Jason peered into his eyes, and Percy resisted the urge to look away.

“Hmm, no. You look good.”

Percy scoffed, and turned on his heel away from Jason, hiding the smile that worked its way onto his face.

“I can tell that made you smile.” Jason called behind him, and Percy shook his head.

“Come on.” He said, and they made their way into the apartment.

“Hi, Mrs. Jackson,” Jason called, and Percy waved.

“Oh, you’re back already! It’s good to see you, Jason.”

“It didn’t last as long as I thought it would,” Percy said, pulling Jason down the hall.

“We’ll be in my room.” He called out, and then quickly shut the door.

He collapsed face first on his bed with a sigh, and felt a weight beside him. A hand wormed its way into his own, and he squeezed it tight.

“Thanks for coming with me.” He said, his voice muffled by a pillow.

“No problem.” Jason replied, and got close to his ear.

“That’s what boyfriends are for, right?” He whispered, and Percy laughed.

Everytime he heard that word, his breath hitched. He wasn’t used to the word associated with him and Jason. He didn’t think he would ever be, if he was honest, despite the fact that they had been dating for a little over a year. A dark place in his mind told him not to hold his breath that Jason would stick around. After all, who would stay with someone like him? 

Percy rolled himself around so he was facing the ceiling again, and dug his phone out of his pocket. He had fifty text messages, mostly from Annabeth, but there was a couple from Thalia as well, mostly wondering if Jason was with him.

He put his phone down without answering any of his texts, and sat completely up. Jason got up off the bed, and walked around his room, taking note of the small changes that had been made since the last time he had been in it.

They didn’t go to each other’s houses very often. The last thing they needed was their parent’s talking to each other and figuring out that they were with each other all the time. Percy knew that his mom would have no problem with his relationship with Jason. She was open minded, and liked Jason a lot, but the same couldn’t be said about Zeus and Hera. Not only were they conservative minded, they both vehemently hated Percy with a passion.

They kept their relationship secret because they weren’t sure what would happen if Jason’s parents not only found out that he was in a relationship with a guy, but the very guy who they both wanted blasted off the face of the earth, so they were playing it safe. They would have told their friends, but thinking about it for one second made them realize that not a single one of their friends could be trusted with a secret like that.

Jason nudged a bag on the floor with his foot.

“Going somewhere?” He asked.

“Uhh, yeah. I told you about it, remember?”

Jason stopped.

“What? When?”

“Back in May? We were literally here in this very room when I told you.”

Jason looked confused, and Percy shook his head.

“I’m counseling at a summer camp for a few days.”

“Ohh, that’s right! I completely forgot about that.” Jason said, nodding to himself.

“It looks like I picked the perfect time to leave town for a few days, if those film guys are coming to talk to us.”

“You really don’t want to talk to them about it?” Jason asked.

“I don’t want to even think about it, I’ll put it that way. The last thing I need is some asshole trying to tell my story for me. I just want to move forward, and get on with my life.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Jason said, and moved closer to him. He tilted Percy’s head up with his finger, and then quickly pecked him on the lips. Percy pushed him away with no force, and then changed his mind, grabbing Jason’s shirt and pulling him in. They collapsed on the bed, and laid on their sides, staring at each other.

“You know…” Percy started, tracing a small pattern on Jason’s arm. “The camp is still looking for more counselors. The summer heat is keeping everyone away.”

“What will everyone think of you and I disappearing together? What will they say?” Jason said, but his tone wasn’t serious.

“Let them wonder,” Percy said, echoing Jason from earlier.

Now that they were both eighteen, and Percy was almost nineteen, there was less and less need for them to hide. It would be nice, finally being able to tell people about him and Jason.

“Maybe…” He started, and Jason cut him off with a kiss,

“Okay.” Jason said when he pulled away.

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say.”

“I think I know.” Jason said, and then pulled him into another deep kiss. Percy sighed, and let himself relax fully into Jason’s arms that wrapped around him, pulling him closer.

\----

The man stood at the end of the hallway, and let his fingers brush against the side of the wall as he made his way into the main living area. His fingers left dark red streaks against the bright wallpaper, and he wiped his hands of the blood with a doily from a side table. He looked around the room, taking it all in with a bored look on his face, before he stopped, his gaze fixating on the butcher block in the kitchen.

His own knife had been insufficient for his task, but this looked like it would do the trick just fine. He slid the knife out of the wooden block, and let the metal sing as it was pulled out. He loved that sound, and especially now, when it was going to help him with his ultimate goal.

He made his way back through the living room, down the hall, and into the bedroom where two figures waited for him on the bed. The red had already soaked into most of the sheets, making them wet to the touch. He grabbed the feet of the first one, and hauled them closer to him. He undressed them from the waist up quickly, and began his work. The metal had sung when it was pulled out of the wooden block, but now its song was damped by the dullness of flesh.

He made the cuts he needed, not bothering with precision. What he was after was hard to miss, so he didn’t need to be careful or anything. When he was satisfied with his work, he reached deep and pulled, and then made a few more quick cuts around his prize. With one final yank, he had what he had come for.

The organ was hot to the touch, the blood still warming it from the inside. He had hoped it would be beating when he laid his eyes on it, but this heart had long since stood still. He admired its beauty, its magnificence, and put the knife down so he could caress it. The valves, its chambers, they were…

Imperfect. When he realized its grotesqueness, he threw it to the side with a gag. That vile thing had not been what he had been looking for. It didn’t deserve to be called a heart, it was nothing more than a vessel, only capable of doing its bodily task and nothing more.

He tried the second figure, working faster than he had before. He hoped beyond hope that it would be different from the first one, but when he finally freed it from its carrier, it had all the same imperfections as the first.

'Disgusting,' he thought to himself as he let it drop to the floor. He looked around the room, and thought about the people who once lived in it. Disgusting, vile creatures who dared to call themselves a married couple. He shook his head. They didn’t know the first thing about love. Their hearts were proof before him.

He bent down to their sides, pulling the bands around their fingers, and adding them to his bag. Shameless declarations of love, the figures weren’t worthy of holding on to them. The bands made a metallic sound as they met the dozen or so other bands he had collected over his journey.

He took a shower in the bathroom, and cleaned himself up. He helped himself to the keys of their car, and drove away in their new car. It had been a honeymoon gift, He knew, He had been watching them.

Throughout his journey, he had tried many different kinds of couples. Old couples, young couples, couples who fought, couples who didn’t. Newly weds was a first for him, and it only soured his mood with its findings.

None of them had been in love, he was sure of it. None of their hearts reflected anything when he saw them. They were all frauds, masquerading as functioning couples, but deep down, they must have despised each other. Their hearts were corrupted, just like their relationship, and it was his duty to end it. To end the sham that so many people presented in public. To end them.

He stopped at a fork in the road. One led to the city, where he was sure to find plenty of couples just waiting for him to examine their hearts. In all of its vastness, he would easily evade the police and let the public know his wrath.

The other led further into Long Island Sound. There weren't as many people that way, mostly vacation homes and farms. He would have a harder time evading the police with less people to examine, and more open fields to pursue him in. It would be a fool’s errand to go down that path, and yet, as he moved to turn to the left, to the city, his hand jerked to the right. 

‘Alright’, he thought to himself as he made his way down the road. ‘With fate as my guide.’ He thought as he read a sign advertising a summer camp a few miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fate has a way of screwing Percy and Jason over.


	31. Bright Sunlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Jason have a talk on the way to camp. A man selects his next victim.
> 
> Something is off.

“I had this strange dream last night.” Percy said as he stared out at the passing trees outside the car window.

They had left early in the morning, so they could get to the camp by noon. He still hadn’t looked at his messages anymore, only leaving his mother with a specific set of instructions of what to say to his friends, and another set of instructions should anyone who looks like they could be a reporter show up at the house.

“Oh yeah?,” Jason said, his fingers thrumming a slow beat on the steering wheel. “Anything interesting happen?”

“That’s just it. I don’t remember anything about it. I just- I feel like it was important, you know? Like I’m missing something big. I just don’t know what it could be. I don’t think I’m forgetting anything, am I?”

Jason made a show of thinking hard about something, but he simply shrugged.

“I can’t think of anything. Maybe you're just stressed out because of the documentary?”

Percy shook his head.

“I don’t think that’s it. I had the same dream the night before, too. Before I had even heard about the stupid film crew or whatever.”

“Do you remember anything at all about it? How you felt, who you saw, maybe?”

“I think… I saw you, and I felt… sad? No, I don’t think that’s the word for it. I was angry at someone, furious, even. I felt like something had been stolen away from me, like I had been punished for something I had nothing to do with, and-”

Jason turned the radio on, and the car filled with the sound of a woman singing. The instrumentals were dreamy and flowed like water. When he focused hard enough, Percy swore he heard what sounded like crashing waves. It was a cover of an old song from the seventies.

“Hey,” Percy said indignantly, giving Jason a pointed look.

“Sorry, were you saying something?” He asked, giving Percy a quick glance before turning his gaze back to the road.

“Um, yeah, I kind of was.” Percy said, nodding slowly.

The music was getting to him, the chiming of what sounded like a bell tolling as the singer whispered echoed phrases. He lowered the volume.

“I was trying to tell you about my dream? From the other night. I was saying that I felt like something was off. Have you ever had a dream like that? Something that felt like a warning or something?”

“I can’t say I have. Sounds scary.”

“No, it wasn’t scary. Or, at least, it wasn’t yet. It felt like I was on the edge of something dark, so maybe in the future, but-”

Percy switched the radio station, his hands slightly shaking,

“Sorry, I don’t like this song.” He said, as the next channel began playing. The car started to fill with the sound of dreamy instrumentals and a familiar woman’s voice.

“Huh, what are the odds of that?” Jason said, a slight smile on his face.

Percy didn’t find the situation funny. Something was off, just like in his dream. He flipped the tuner again, and was met with the same chiming bell, the same song but further along.

“Three in a row?” He asked, mostly to himself, and Jason hummed along to the song.

“It must be new, or something,” Jason said. “You know how radio stations like to spam the new junk and nothing else for a few weeks.”

Percy moved the tuner one more time, and soft static fizzled in the speakers.

“Damn,” Jason said, although he didn’t look concerned at all. “We must have lost the signal. We are pretty far out now.”

Percy checked his phone, and sure enough, the little indicator showed that he was without signal. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. He had known this coming in, that he would be disconnected from society for a few days, but he felt unsettled.

“You okay?” Jason asked his, reaching over to rub a hand on Percy’s arm. Percy leaned a little into the touch, and nodded.

“Yeah, just nervous.” He said, placing a hand on Jason’s and squeezing.

“We should be at the camp pretty soon.” Jason said, after a moment’s pause.

“Cool. I think I’m done with being in a car for this long anyways.”

“Same.” Jason said.

The car went quiet for another moment, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. One thing that Percy liked about Jason was their ability to just… exist next to each other, without having to always have a conversation or anything. Sometimes, they would just lie in Percy’s bed for what felt like hours, side by side, not saying anything, just staring up at the ceiling. 

“So how did you find out about this camp, anyways?” Jason said, breaking that comforting silence.

Percy shrugged.

“My dad’s friend runs it during the summer. Apparently, a few of the counselors had to go home early because they got a stomach bug or something, and the camp’s about to end anyways. All we’re mainly here for is to help clean up once everyone heads home. Actually, I’m pretty sure the end of camp is tomorrow. We should be home by Sunday night, probably.”

“How does Paul know somebody who runs a camp?”

“Not Paul, my- Poseidon. Sorry, I should have just said. It’s a little confusing, but I’ve… I like him, but I don’t really think of Paul as my father, you know?”

“I get it. He’s only been around for a few years, but I like him too. He’s nice.” Jason was quiet for a moment, before adding, “I think he knows about us.”

“What?” Percy said, sitting upright.

“I just have a feeling. I could be wrong, but he’s been looking at me differently the last few times we’ve hung out. Like he’s trying to see something. Your mom definitely knows, though.”

“What!?” Percy said, his eyes widening.

“Percy, she’s your mom. She just knows, okay? I know she’s seen the way we look at each other sometimes when we think no one else is looking, I saw her staring at me at the Fourth of July party we had. I’m pretty sure she at least suspects.”

Percy wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, he had always told himself that he was fine with being out as being bi, but the fact that his mother might already know caused his stomach to drop.

“Is that okay? I mean- what if they tell your parents?” Percy said.

“I don’t think your mom likes my parents very much. I’ve seen her talking to Hera with her fist clenched more than once, actually. I don’t think we have to worry about them.”

The car was silent.

“Maybe… We should just tell them?” Jason said, glancing at Percy.

The sound of static brought Percy back to reality and reminded him that he had never turned the radio off. He must have tuned it out in the conversation. He reached forward and turned it off.

“If that’s what you want,” He said, settling back into his seat.

“You don’t sound excited.”

“I am, it’s just… It’s a little weird to think that it’s finally time to start telling people. I mean, I don’t know if we should tell everybody else yet until you move somewhere else, but it feels like we’ve been talking about this stuff for forever, and now…”

“We’re here.” Jason finished.

“Yeah.”

“No, I mean, we’re actually here. Look.” He said, pointing out the window.

The entrance to the camp was impressive, a massive archway with a sign at the very top that simply read, CAMP HALFBLOOD, in massive font.

‘Weird name,’ Percy thought to himself, as he undid his seatbelt.

“Look, if you don’t want to tell your parents, I understand. I just thought that they should know.” Jason said, once he had parked the car.

Percy paused, his hand on the door handle. He turned back around, shifting slightly so he was facing Jason.

“No, I mean- you were right. We should tell them. It’s a good idea, okay? I just… needed some time to process everything. When we get back, we’ll talk to them.”

“Okay.” Jason said, and leaned over to give Percy a quick peck on the cheek. Percy smiled and pushed him away slightly, opening the car door and climbing out. He stretched his sore limbs, aching from being cooped up in the car for so long, and breathed in the humid air. 

“It feels good.” Jason said, opening the boot of the car and pulling out their backpacks, handing Percy his dark blue one.

“You say that now, but I give it one hour before you’re missing the AC.” Percy teased, slipping his arms through the leather straps.

\----

The woods were quiet at this time of day, the man noted as he picked his fingernails with the edge of his knife, working out specks of red that he had missed the previous night.

He had abandoned the car about a half mile into the woods, making sure it was out of sight from any passerbys. With the car gone, and the couple supposedly on their honeymoon, he gave it at least a week before anyone noticed that anything was wrong, and by that time, he would already be on his way.

His next stop after this...Canada? He wasn’t sure yet, but it sounded like a good place to start. He would need a way to get past the border without attracting suspicion, but he felt that he had done much harder things in the past. 

On occasion, the humid breeze brought the sound of screams. Not the kind that he tended to get when he struggled with his victims, but joyous ones. The children from the camp were loud and rambunctious. He had surveyed the scene from afar with his binoculars the night before, and had most of the information he needed to know.

They had been having a campfire the previous night, which meant that most, if not all, of the campers and cabin counselors had been out and around the large flame. He saw where everyone had gone to when the last embers were extinguished. He knew which cabins belonged to who now, and the high activity zones to stay away from, like the path to the latrines. 

He had already marked his targets, a young man and young woman who he had been fortunate enough to see stumble into one of the empty cabins together at the end of the night. The temptation had been immense to immediately go after them, but he couldn’t risk making any moves until he was certain he knew people's schedules.

The sign from the advertisement had let him know that the camp was about to close down, and he had already heard the boy complaining loudly to the old man about having to stay through the weekend to help clean up. That was when he would make his strike, he confirmed to himself. The less chance there was for him to be seen, the better.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of nature. The wind blowing softly through the trees, the rustle of the tall grass. He heard the beating of his pulse, and he worked to bring it to as slow as he possibly could by relaxing his body. As he meditated, he heard something else.

The crunch of gravel as a car made its way loudly up the path leading to the camp. He wasn’t that far from the entrance to the camp on purpose, just for this very reason. He got to his feet, and started walking, his binoculars in hand. He needed to know what was going on, and who had just arrived. 

He made his way to the edge of the tree wall and waited as a car pulled slowly into a parking spot. He zoomed in on the scene and was greeted with the sight of two more young men, one with short blonde hair, and the other with medium jet black hair. They talked for a moment, and then, when they thought no one was looking… they kissed. Just on the cheek, nothing intense, but the man felt himself flush at seeing their secret exchange. He felt like he had just been privy to something special, and it made his blood pump.

Forget the horny couple in the empty cabin, they were nothing special compared to what he was seeing now. He had never even considered the fact that two men could love each other like a man and a woman could, and it filled his mind with the possibilities. Maybe this was the answer he had been looking for this entire time, he thought to himself. He tightened his grip on his binoculars and observed every detail he could. He needed to know everything about them if he was going to make his move the following night.

\----

Percy let out a sigh as he gazed out at the camp from the top of the hill where they stood. It was expansive, and he wondered how he had never heard of a place like it before. Maybe it was too rich for his blood, he mused to himself, but the thought felt flat.

He belonged in this place.

“Percy?”

Percy snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Jason, who was leaning against the tall pine tree that stood at the top of the hill with them. Jason gave him a quizzical look.

“It’s pretty big,” Percy said simply, slightly cringing at how awkward he sounded.

“Yeah, it is. I wonder what it costs to run a place like this.” Jason replied, thankfully not acknowledging Percy’s lapse.

“I think this might be a lot more work than I thought it was going to be,” Percy said, already dreading the workload, but Jason slung an arm around him and pulled him close.

“Come on, Percy. You’re not afraid of a little hard work, are you?”

Percy scoffed, and extracted himself from Jason’s grasp.

“I’m not the one I’m worried about.” He said, smiling a little at the annoyance on Jason’s face.

Jason said something back to him, but Percy froze. His muscles clenched, and tightened, and he whirled around to face the edge of the camp. The tree line where the plain fields met thick forest. He stared at a spot, slightly deep into the forest, feeling as though he was being pulled in by some unseen force, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder, and Jason was in his ear again.

“Seriously, Percy. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just- I thought I saw something.”

Jason looked at him.

“From behind you?”

“I- Do you ever feel like you’re being watched?”

Before Jason had a chance to reply, someone was climbing the hill, waving their arms towards them.

“Hey there!” The young man said. He was decked out in cargo shorts and a disgustingly bright orange tee that simply had the camp’s name printed on it in black. 

Percy and Jason glanced at each other for a moment, and then headed down the hill to go talk to him.

\----

The man raced through the woods, his breathing ragged, and his head pounding.

He had seen him. Somehow, the black haired boy had seen him. He was sure of it. The boy had looked directly at the spot where he had been standing, and stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, before the blonde haired one had pulled him away.

Yet, even as they stared at each other from that long distance, the man had found himself wanting to… walk forwards. He wanted to run straight at the boy, as if he was being pulled to him by some unseen force.

There was no way to describe what had just happened. The way the boy had turned around, and just looked at him.... His mother had once told him about fate and how it guided people towards each other, without them even knowing, and he had dismissed it as pure fantasy. He wasn’t so sure now. He wanted- No, he needed to get closer to the boy. He needed to know what he was, and he needed to see what was on the inside that made him so special.

He leaned heavily on the car, catching his breath for a moment, before flinging the car door open, gathering his things. He put all of his tools into his sack, and then stopped to admire his newest piece of his growing collection. He had refused to use it the previous night, instead opting for the couple's own utensils and cutlery to do the deed. This, he thought as he gazed up the long machete blade, he was saving for someone special. Someone who he had just found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter, but the next one is out very soon. Things are about to get rough for Percy and Jason.


	32. Behind Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fun day at camp, and a strange group of friends. The stage is set for a deadly meeting.

Paul opened the door for them, and Annabeth and Thalia stepped inside. The inside of the apartment was the same as always, although Annabeth couldn’t remember the last time she had been there. Had it really been since the breakup? No, it couldn’t have been, it was too long ago for that to be the case. The evening light pooled in from the nearby window, and Annabeth basked in the cool air of the apartment as they entered.

The smell of cookies was in the air, and without looking, Annabeth knew that they would be dyed a dark blue from copious amounts of food coloring. A little habit Sally Jackson had picked up from when Percy was younger and refused to eat anything not his favorite color. She smiled a little as she remembered all the times she used to tease him about it, but even she had to admit that there was something special about those cookies that she could only attribute to their color.

“Annabeth! Thalia!” Sally called as she stepped out from around the corner leading to the small kitchen. Sure enough, her hands were covered by large blue oven mitts, which she took off and set on the counter before rushing to embrace the two girls.

Annabeth could tell that Thalia was uncomfortable with the contact, but she bore it for Sally’s sake. The woman had been a better mother to her in the few years that she had known her than Beryl and Hera combined, although it wasn’t exactly like that was a high bar.

“Hi, Mrs. Jackson,” Thalia said, gently removing herself from the hug.

“You two are here about Percy, right? Well, I’m sorry to say that I’m bound to secrecy. I swore that I wouldn’t tell a soul where they went, especially if they ‘Looked like some skeezy reporter.’” She said, making air quotes at that last part.

“So Jason is with him?” Annabeth asked, ignoring Percy’s description of the film crew. They actually weren’t that bad, but he had always made his assumptions before he had any idea what he was talking about. Frustratingly, he did tend to have a knack for being right, but he wasn’t infallible, and she had done her research before she had agreed to anything. It really was a golden opportunity for them, and she didn’t want his stubbornness to screw him over this time.

“Oops.” Sally said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

“What’s with that look?” Thalia said, looking like she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be excited or concerned.

“Well, it’s just nice to see the two of them doing things together. I remember when they first met… Do you remember that?”

Annabeth did. They had hated each other. For a long time, Annabeth wasn’t sure why, but eventually she had sussed out the reason, just as they themselves had begun to get along better. The two were mirrors, they shared the role of group leaders but they had subtly different ways of doing things that meant they clashed at almost every turn. Where Percy wanted to try a slightly more spontaneous plan, Jason wanted to plan. Jason was serious and stern when he took charge, Percy was loose and nonchalant. 

They shouldn’t have worked together, but as the days went by, every one could see a shift in their dynamic. They made room for each other, more open to the others ideas before they suggested their own. Together, they made a pretty good team, and Annabeth had been happy leaving things to them when she went away.

“Yeah, I do. I thought they were going to bite each other’s heads off,” She said with a laugh.

“It’s just so nice to see them now,” Sally said. “Do either of you want a cookie?”

Annabeth and Thalia shared a look, and then broke into matching grins.

“Well, if you insist…” Thalia said, already following Sally into the kitchen.

They sat at the kitchen table, and talked for a while, slowly making their way through the cookies on the plate Sally had set. The small tv in the kitchen that Sally had set on the corner of the counter buzzed in the background, some news anchors talking about fall trends.

Thalia and Sally were talking about how neither Percy nor Jason had responded to any of their texts or calls in the past few hours. It was part of the reason they had decided to come for a visit. Annabeth wanted to soothe things over with Percy, and Thalia wanted to strangle Jason for making her worry.

“Well, I don't think they have a signal in-” Sally cut herself off, smiling slightly at her mistake.

Before Annabeth could say anything, the news program cut off suddenly, a flash of red marking an emergency report. As Sally and Thalia continued talking, her eyes were trained on the screen.

While she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, Sally had thankfully put the closed captions on, which meant she could keep track of what they were saying, albeit with a few seconds of delay.

‘-Morning, two bodies were discovered in their Long Island home by a friend after she went by to drop off a tablecloth from the couple’s recent wedding. The friend let herself in with a spare key she had been trusted with, assuming the couple had been out for the day as their new car was not parked in the driveway. What she saw when she went inside was the horrifying scene that investigators are in the midst of looking at right now. The-’

“Damn.” Annabeth said without thinking, and Sally and Thalia turned to face her.

“What was that?” Sally said, and Annabeth pointed at the screen, giving them a few seconds to grasp what was happening from the closed captions as they went by.

‘-Not comfortable with labelling this homicide as the work of a serial killer just yet, but is warning residents to take precautions and be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. We go live with Jeff Jensi-’

Sally’s face went pale.

“That’s in- Oh god,” She said to herself, using the table to steady herself.

“What’s wrong, Mrs. Jackson?” Thalia said, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“That’s next to them, the boys, I mean. They’re in Long Island. I have to- I need to go-”

“Woah, hold on there, Mrs. Jackson. You can’t seriously expect us to let you go off while some maniac is on the loose, okay? Annabeth and I- We can go instead. Right?” Thalia said, looking over at the blonde.

Annabeth nodded quickly.

“Of course we can,” She responded quickly, helping Sally back into her chair.

“Oh, but I don’t like the thought of the two of you being out there all by yourselves either,” Sally said, brushing away small tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. Her hands shook from anxiety.

“Thalia and I can take care of ourselves, okay? I have my pepper spray and I’ve been taking self defense classes for a year now, and Thalia has her stun gun. We’ll be fine, we just need to know where to go.”

Sally nodded her hand, and quickly wrote down the address on a page ripped from a nearby notepad, and Thalia and Annabeth were out the door before the news report had even stopped.

\----

Jason and Percy unpacked their bags quickly in the cabin they had been assigned, and Percy took a look around the small room. They had been lucky enough to get a room all to themselves as there were a few empty cabins left over.

Percy had quickly realized he had been wrong before. The next day wasn’t the last day of camp, it was today. Apparently, when his father told him that there was one day of camp left when they arrived, he meant the current day, not the next. A few of the campers had already left, and all would be gone by the time the sun went down in the evening. All he and Jason had to do in the meantime was watch over one of the groups while they went through their last day of activities, and then they would be told what to do the following day for cleanup duty.

Their guide, a preppy young man named Lester, had practically crushed them with his bear hug when they had first arrived. Before either of them could get a word in, he was prattling on about how grateful he was that they were there, and how amazing it was that Percy had brought a friend. 

“You have no idea how important this is to us,” He said, as he took them on an abbreviated tour of the camp’s facilities.

“Most of the time, the camp is slow, so I thought we would be able to handle missing a few counselors just fine, but this year…” He shuddered, and looked off to the archery range where they could already hear shouting and hollering.

“They’re… excitable. Loud, for sure, but sweet. Sweetish, I should say. Some of them can get under your skin, though.” He said, as he showed them where they would be sleeping.

As they finished settling into the cabin, Percy looked at the two shirts that were thrown on the bed, and scrunched his nose. The fluorescent orange was an eyesore, and he had been unfortunate enough that it was in his size. Jason, on the other hand, had been given a much more subdued purple shirt.

He slung off his shirt quickly and changed into the orange shirt, which was made of the scratchy cottony material that he hated with a passion.

“It looks good on you, Percy,” Jason said from the side, looking like he was trying to be nice about it. He was shirtless, and was spinning his own shirt lazily as he watched Percy squirm in the uncomfortable garment.

“Shut up, wait until you try yours on,” Percy said, taking the time to appreciate the view as Jason slowly put on the purple shirt.

“What’s the big deal, it's just a soft cotton shirt?” He said once he finally pulled the cloth over his head. He looked at Percy like he was crazy, and Percy stomped over and felt the fabric.

“What the- This isn’t even the same fabric as mine, this is way better! Look, feel mine!” Percy said, pulling Jason’s hand to his midsection.

“Oh, you’re right. This does suck!” Jason said, but he looked a little too happy about it for Percy’s liking.

“Shut up,” Percy said, pushing Jason away softly. “That just means you and this shirt have something in common.”

Before Jason could respond, there was a knock at the cabin door. Percy opened the door, half expecting to see Lester, but instead there was a young woman standing in the doorway. She looked about their age, maybe a little younger, and clearly not happy to be there.

She had dark brown hair, which was done up in a loose bun, and her makeup was immaculately and painstakingly perfected in a way that looked like it took hours to do, although it was already starting to smudge in the heat. She wore a lime green shirt a few sizes too big for her, and she tucked the excess into her shorts.

“Are you guys almost ready? Your group is getting on my nerves, and it isn’t even the third rotation yet.” She said with a deadpan. She clearly did not want to be there, and she radiated irritation.

Percy was taken back by the off-putting attitude, but Jason saved him from having to form a response. He plopped his head on Percy’s shoulder, and gave the other girl a big grin.

“Yep, we’re all set.” He said, adjusting his position as Percy fought to throw him off.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Jason, and Percy could see her fight to keep the bored look on her face.

“Whatever,” She said, turning around and walking away. She raised her hand over her head and made a beckoning motion for them to follow.

“My name’s Drew,” She said, as they walked toward the archery area. “I run the Green Cabin, and I’ve been tasked with the unfortunate duty of looking over the Blue Cabin while we waited for somebody to show up.”

She paused for a moment, making sure no one was around them, before turning around and staring them both head on.

“Your group fucking sucks. Just a warning.”

With that, she turned back around and led them into the archery range. At the end was a group of five kids, all wearing lime green shirts. They looked like they were horsing around a little, but when they saw Drew approach, they snapped to attention and quickly got into a single file line.

“Did you brats behave?” Drew asked as she set up three of the archery stations with arrows and bows.

“Yes, Mrs. Drew!” They said in unison, bowing their heads.

“Then let’s get started!” She said, and the group started getting ready to fire.

“Where’s our group?” Percy called out to her, and Drew thumbed back towards the end of the room. A group of four sat in the corner, all decked out in light blue shirts. As he and Jason approached, Percy could see bored expressions on all of their faces. They were sitting in a tight circle, looking downwards towards something that was blocked by their bodies.

“Hey guys. We’re your new group leaders for today. My name’s Percy, and this is Jason. What’s your names?” Percy tried, but none of the children reacted like they heard him.

He and Jason shared a look, and Jason tried this time.

“Uh, hey! Can any of you tell me what your names are? We want to make sure you guys have a great last day at camp!” Jason said with a strained smile.

One of the children, a girl probably still in her preteens, turned around, her expression unfazed. As she turned, Percy could see what the children were surrounding. A chalk spiral was in the middle of their group, and in the center of that, a coin spun in a tight circle on the hard concrete.

“Are you guys playing a game or something?”

All four looked at Jason in unison, and one of them giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Percy said.

“It’s gonna happen again. Again and again and again.” Another one of the girls said, her expression light. She stood up quickly, and brushed past them to make her way to the archery station.

The second child, a young boy, looked sad as he too stood up and walked past them. Percy could see him give a mournful look in Jason’s direction as he walked away.

The third child, another girl, stayed looking bored, swinging her arms in circles as she took her spot behind the boy as they waited in line.

The last one, the girl that had first turned around, stayed sitting on the floor, her attention back on the coin, which had fallen heads up.

“Heads again,” She announced to seemingly nobody as her group had already left, and then she stood up. She looked at Jason and rubbed her forehead absently, which meant nothing to Percy, but Jason’s eyes widened a little, and he too pressed a hand to his head.

“What’s wrong?” Percy said, placing a reassuring hand on Jason’s shoulder, but Jason just shook his head.

“Nothing, it was just-”

“It just repeats.” The little girl said, her expression bored, and before Percy could say anything to her, she wandered off back towards her group of friends.

“That was weird.” He said, but Jason wasn’t listening to him. He just rubbed at the spot on his forehead.

\----

As the evening sun went began to dim, the man entered the cabin as quietly as he could and began his infiltration. He had watched as the two boys had made their way through the camp with their little parade of mildly depressed children, and had waited until they were on the other side of the camp before he made his move. The cabin was mostly bare, save for the two backpackss in the corner, one a dark blue, and the other a tan canvas. 

He opened the tan bag first, which was already mostly empty, its contents probably stored in the small set of drawers beside it. The items that remained in the bag were of minimal importance. Some toiletries, extra money in a ziplock bag, a small compass, and a small bottle of sunscreen. He had seen the blonde one carrying it, and it solidified his current opinion that he was of no interest to the man's work. There was no connection like the one he had with the raven haired boy, and he moved over to the other bag to see what was inside.

The other bag was still full of clothes, not yet put away like the other bag had been. The man grabbed a handful of cloth and pushed it against his nose, inhaling the smell as deeply as he could. The clothes smelled fresh, like a sea breeze, and he grabbed a random pair of underwear and stuck it in his back pocket for later. He continued going through the bag, getting down to the bottom for the rest of its contents. Another set of toiletries, and more money. He was about to give up on the bag altogether, when his fingers brushed against something thin, and he pulled it out without thinking. A single photo stared up at him, and he stopped. 

The photo was of two boys on a dark night. They looked happy and were on what looked like a rooftop, small strings of lights behind them providing a small glow to the image. They were facing the camera, silly smiles on their faces, looking as happy as could be. There was something in not knowing the context as to when the photo was taken that excited the man. Was this when they got together? Before? Had they already slept together, or were they still pure? He needed to know who they were to know if he could count on their hearts being worthy, and he also took the picture with him. He would have questions for them later, when the time came.

He zipped up the bag, and was about to look around some more when the front porch squeaked, the old wood protesting against an unknown wait. Heavy footsteps headed towards the door, and the man scrambled to the floor, sliding neatly under the bed closest to the wall. Luckily, the beds had been fitted with a bed skirt that prevented view from under the bed unless it was lifted. He let his hand drift down to his belt, grabbing the knife stashed there and slowly pulling it out. 

\----

Percy stepped into the cabin and shivered, despite the ever present heat surrounding him. Something felt... off, and it wasn't the creepy kids he had just overseen the entire day. They had just been picked up by their seemingly normal parents, and now all they had to do was wait until the morning for the next set of instructions.

He grabbed his bag off the floor and flung it onto the bed, and then tossed himself onto the hard mattress. The bed frame creaked tremendously, and he made a mental note to not do that again, unless he felt like having it all collapse on top of him. He leaned his back against the wall and rummaged through his bag, pulling out clothes and setting them aside for his shower. Jason was off with Lester, Drew, and the other few counselors. They were going to start a fire and talk, and Percy couldn't stand being around Drew anymore than he needed to. She had already tried draping herself over Jason, and Percy had hid his smile, knowing that she was foolishly mistaken if she thought she was going to have any luck in that department. The look of Jason's face alone had reassured him that he didn't have anything to worry about.

He stood up and stretched out the aches in his muscles. They had been busy all day, moving from station to station, and he had done so much extra effort just trying to get the kids excited about... well, anything, so he felt it all now. The rock climbing alone had wiped him out, although it had been a pleasant treat to see Jason struggle to get a few feet off the ground, his fear of heights keeping him firmly rooted in the ground even as he tried to convince the kids that it was fun. Percy gathered his toiletries, and zipped the bag up.

He walked over to the bathroom, impressed by the cabin's facilities. It was a simple shower, and the showerhead was a little rusty, with only a thin curtain separating the sink area and the shower area. He stripped down quickly, placing his clothes on the toilets water tank lid so they wouldn't get wet. He turned the shower on, and tested the water. Ir was freezing, and even after a few moments of waiting, it barely heated up, so he sighed and jumped in anyways, shuddering under the cold spray.

He washed himself quickly, then lathered shampoo into his hair. His thoughts drifted away from him, and he was suddenly unsure of what he was doing at all. Why had he run from the opportunity to meet with the film crew, when that was exactly the kind of thing he needed in his life right now? He needed to get over his fears and face the fact that he needed some help fixing his reputation. After all, if Annabeth had signed on, surely she had done her research? 

As he tried to think about what he should do, the soap from his hair dripped down into his eyes, and he cursed loudly as he clenched them closed.

"Ow, that fucking hurts." He said to no one as he fumbled around. His hand brushed against the vinyl shower curtain and met a force. He pulled his hand back slowly, and tried to open his eyes, but the pain was so striking that it forced them back shut again.

"Jason?" He called out, and he heard the shower curtain pull back slowly.

"I can't see shit right now, some stupid soap got in my eye. Could you pass me a towel?" He said. He was slightly embarrassed for Jason to see him like this, but it was probably an inevitable part of any healthy relationship. He was just surprised that it was Jason who had initiated any kind of forward move, especially considering how unsure the blonde was of anything remotely past second base.

He couldn't see, but he could sense the presence move forward, almost into the spray of the water, and for a moment, he thought Jason was about to join him, but there was still no reply.

"Hello?" He tried again, reaching out blindly. Without warning, a hand pressed against his chest, slowly pushing him against the tiled wall. The hand held firm for a moment, right above his heart. Percy could feel his heart begin to beat faster as he anticipated Jason's next move. Was this it? Were they about to go all the way? It wasn't exactly Percy's first choice of where it was going to happen, and he needed to get the damn soap out of his eye, but if Jason was ready...

There was a sound like someone sucked in their breath quickly, and then the presence was gone. Percy touched the spot where the hand had been and breathed out slowly. The tension in the room left all at once, and Percy had to carefully make his own way to the towel rack and wipe at his eyes, blearily seeing the empty bathroom for the first time. He was alone. 

\----

The man ran out of the cabin, only belatedly making sure to check that no one was around, and dashed into the woods. His clothes were soaked from the cold shower water, and his chest felt like it was going to explode. He had touched it, he had touched the heart that he so desired, and now he was sure. This was it, it had to be. The young man had looked so beautiful underneath him that he had almost been tempted to end the whole thing right then and there, but he needed to get the blonde as well. As boring as the blond was, he was still the essential part of the love that the young man felt, and they needed to see the life drain from each others eyes to achieve the maximum effect.

He reached a spot in the woods where he was sure he was safe, and collapsed to the ground. He gathered himself into a tight ball, and let out bouts of small laughter, his excitement overtaking him. This was it, this was it, this was it, this was it, this was it, this was it, this was is, he repeated it it to himself like a mantra, and he knew what he had to do. He stood up slowly, enjoying the way his body protested the movement, and made his way back through the trees. He watched from afar as the black haired boy left the cabin, hair still wet from the shower, making his way over to where several of the other counselors remaining had made a small fire. He saw him ask them a question, almost assuredly about the blonde's whereabouts as he was not present in their small group.

One of the girls pointed dejectedly at the mess hall, and the young man started for the building. It was the biggest building on the grounds, with a small cafeteria and a stage at one of the ends. He watched the raven haired man make his way into the front entrance, and smiled. There was more than one entrance to the building, he knew, and it even backed up near the tree line. Things were lining up for him, and he knew it had to be fate that drove him forward as he entered the side entrance of the mess hall. This ended tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but a thought came to me as I was halfway through writing this chapter, and that thought was... The story is ending is a few chapters. The end is in sight, and as we make our way closer to it, things will unravel for Percy as he makes his final gambit for Jason's survival.


	33. Call It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end approaches, far faster than Percy expects, and before he knows it, he finds himself in front of his true enemy.

The darkness of the mess hall welcomed Percy as he walked into the large room. To the right was the kitchen area, and to the left was a small stage. The tables in the middle of the room had been cleared and set against the walls, leaving the middle of the room wide open. A single light framed the center, illuminating the wooden floorboards, and the blonde hair of Jason, who stood in the center of the light, his back to Percy.

“Jas-” Percy tried, but he cut himself off as Jason turned to him. There was something off about the way Jason looked at him, almost as if he was looking through him, but he walked forwards anyways.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” He asked, lightly placing a hand on Jason’s arm. He tried to hold eye contact with him, but it was hard when Jason was looking at him like that.

Jason held out his hand in front of him, revealing the silver coin that rested in his palm.

“It’s heads again.” He said. He put the coin into his pocket.

“What?” Percy asked, confused why they were talking about coins again. The creepy kids from before had played that game nonstop, and each time it had seemed to disturb Jason on a level that Percy didn’t have any reasoning for.

“It’s always heads. It’ll always be heads, you can’t stop it no matter how many times you try.”

“I’m not- I’m not sure what you’re talking about here. Who’s trying to stop what?”

Jason shook his head.

“You don’t get it yet, but you will. I’m trying to tell you something here. Can you listen?” He said, and the way he emphasized the last words made Percy pay attention.

“Sure, yeah. Whatever you need to say, you can tell me. I’m listening.” Percy said.

“Stop.”

Percy jerked back, pulling himself away from Jason as if he had burned him. He continued walking backwards, back towards the main doors, not sure where he was going on why he was having such a visceral reaction. Jason wanted him to stop? Stop what?

Even without knowing what that something was, Percy’s entire being rebelled against the simple command, and he pushed against the doors, desperate to flee the scene. The doors did not budge. He tried them again, pushing against the bar with all his might but he was stuck. He peered out the small window on the door, trying to see if anyone was around to help him, but the night outside was pitch black, much darker than it had been just a few moments ago when he had walked into the mess hall.

He walked back to the center of the room, and back to Jason.

“The door won’t open. I think something’s wrong.”

“Something has been wrong for a lot longer than you realize. You just didn’t want to pay attention.” Jason said, his tone harsh.

“Then tell me! How am I supposed to know what you’re talking about if you keep being vague about it?” Percy said, and Jason gripped him by the shoulders. Percy braced himself for… something, anything, some kind of answer to his questions, but Jason remained silent. The only thing that changed was the slight crackle of one of the overhead speakers fizzing to life as a quiet song started playing.

It was the song that had played in the song, the song that had played in the club, although Percy didn’t really remember what club that was. He just had a vague memory of green and blue lights, a throng of people pushing against him as the song blared. The sound of waves softly faded in the background as the lead singer tried to reject their feelings for someone.

“Have you heard this song before?” Jason said, his eyes boring into Percy’s.

“I- Yeah, I heard it on the radio with you when we were driving here. You were with me.”

“You know what I’m talking about. Have you heard this song before?”

“I don’t- I don’t like this song. Can you stop it? It’s giving me a headache.” Percy tried, and Jason pulled him in close. He held Percy to his chest, his arms keeping Percy from moving away, and Percy’s heart began to race.

“Hey, could you- Jason, let me go. I don’t want to-”

Jason swayed from side to side, slowly dancing to the beat of the song. The song got louder and louder, and Percy could feel the beat in his bones. Despite the loudness of the song, he still caught the closing of a door from somewhere else in the building.

“Did you hear that? I think someone else is here.” He tried, but Jason didn’t budge. He simply continued dancing, dragging Percy along with him.

“It’s alright. This was bound to happen anyways. You shouldn’t blame yourself for this.” Jason said into Percy’s ear, and Percy shuddered.

“I don’t know what’s happening. I feel like I’m-”

“Trapped?” Jason finished for him, and then laughed.

“You have no idea. Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon. You just have to ask the right question, and you’ll get your answer.”

“What should I ask you then? What should I say?” Percy tried.

“I’m not the one you need to ask.”

“Then who?” Percy asked again, getting more desperate than ever to get out of Jason’s grip. He could hear the faint sounds of footsteps in the kitchen area, and his stomach clenched.

“The one who has been lying this entire time. You know who?”

“I- I don’t! Jason, I seriously think someone else is in here, shouldn’t we check that out?”

As soon as he said that, Percy saw him. From his position at Jason’s shoulder, he saw as the tall man slinked out of the shadows, an exaggeratedly large knife in his right hand. He strode towards them with all the purpose in the world, and Percy knew they needed to get away from him.

“Jason! Behind you! Let me go, we need to get out of-”

The man was on them faster than Percy realized, and he held the knife up in the air, the silver blade shining in the light of the single ceiling light. Jason looked at Percy, and smiled at him, not even acknowledging Percy’s repeated attempts to free himself from his arms.

At that same moment, the doors to the mess hall opened, and Thalia and Annabeth walked into the room. For a moment, it seemed like they would leap into action and help, but they simply stood near the door, watching as the man plunged his knife deep into the back of Jason’s skull.

Percy screamed, and finally tore himself free from Jason’s grasp, falling onto the floor with a hard thud. The man threw Jason to the side and stood above him, watching as Percy tried to scramble backwards away from him. He knelt down on top of Percy, and Percy finally got a good view of what the man looked like. He had dark hair, and a generally handsome face. It was a face he had seen before, he knew, but he could not remember where exactly from.

The man stared at him, not saying a word, and Percy tried to get out from his grip, but he was stuck again.

“How many times does this need to happen for you to realize that it’s not going to work?” The man asked, his voice hoarse and thin.

Annabeth and Thalia were still by the door, but their heads were lolled to the sides, seemingly asleep despite their standing position. In her hand, Thalia gripped some sort of stun gun, and Annabeth had a canister of pepper spray. “How long do we have to suffer before you realize what is going on here?”

“I don’t-”

“Do you want to try again, or will you finally run it through that thick skull of yours that this isn’t going to work?” 

The man grabbed Percy by the front of his shirt and lifted him partially up, just to slam him back against the ground. His head connected with the solid wood flooring, and his headache flared. Percy gasped out in pain, but for a moment, the light above him looked like the headlight of a car. Suddenly, they weren’t in the mess hall, they were in what looked like the forest all around the camp.

The man held him in place, but Percy wasn’t against the ground any more, he was pushed against the trunk of a tree, the bark digging into his back through his clothes, which was suddenly a white undershirt instead of his orange camping shirt. Jason was still collapsed behind them, now sporting a single hole in the middle of his forehead, almost exactly in the spot where the girl had rubbed her forehead earlier in the day.

The man grabbed him again, and crashed his head against the tree. The headache grew even worse, and Percy screamed. The light behind the man was different once again, and then the entire area was different. This time they were in an office building. The man lifted him again. They were in a movie theater. The man lifted him again. They were in his house. They were in Times Square. They were on a cruise ship. They were-

Percy lost count of how many different places whirled around him, and his headache had reached its peak. With one final slam, he felt cool concrete on his skin, and they were on some sort of rooftop terrace. Large flower pots were all around them, and Percy noticed that there were a lot more familiar faces than usual. He could see his father, his friends, all racing towards them, yet stuck in place like he was looking at a photograph.

“Do you see now? This is always going to happen. You can’t change that, no matter how hard you try. End it. Now.”

The man raised the large knife above his head, and then plunged it straight into Percy’s chest.

\----

The stark whiteness didn’t seem so pristine as Percy opened his eyes. It felt like a façade, something covering up a deep and disturbing hidden truth that was out of his grasp. He stood up, absently rubbing the spot where the knife had plunged into his skin with one hand.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked the abyss, but he received no answer. The voice he had come to know as his Assistant was nowhere to be heard. He didn’t particularly care. He just started walking.

It was impossible to orientate himself when there was nothing to give him some sort of anchor or waypoint, but he just walked forwards anyways. He could have been walking in place for all he knew, but he still had to try.

He walked for he didn’t know how long, but something told him to stop. There was still nothing around him, but on instinct, he turned to the right, and suddenly in front of him was a crack in the floor. The crack started at the base of his feet and then made its way upwards, and he followed it. The more he followed the crack, the more that appeared around it, until eventually the ground began to look like soil that had dried out in the sun.

He lifted his gaze from the floor, and looked up, finding the source of all the cracks. Riptide gleamed as he looked at it, its bronze blade sunken deep into the mahogany wood of the small box that it pinned to the floor. The box was almost entirely shattered, the cracks almost so numerous that it shouldn’t have been able to hold any form at all, and yet it remained upright.

Percy walked forwards, and gripped Riptide with both hands, preparing to plunge it even further into the shattered wood, when the voice returned.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” 

The voice was behind him this time, not all around him, all encompassing as it used to be. He turned around to find nothing there but white space, and yet he knew that he was now addressing someone.

“If you don’t want me to do this, then you better start talking. What the fuck was that?” He asked the empty void.

The voice was silent for a moment, and Percy began to shift his weight to drive the blade in even deeper.

“Are you sure you desire the truth? Or would you like to continue your quest as originally planned? You can not have both, you can have either the answers, or you can have your chance at saving your Jason.”

“That’s bullshit. How does that make any sense? Just tell me what’s really going on here, or I’m stomping this box into a million pieces.” He said.

“The answer is worse than you can imagine. It would be to your preference to turn around and go back right now, and we can start again if you’d like. This was a blip in the system, it will not happen again.”

“You don’t get to tell me what I’d prefer, that’s my choice to make, not yours. Tell me what I need to know.”

There was still nothing in front of him, but Percy knew that something approached. A spot on his forehead tingled, and suddenly there was a light pressure, as if someone was pressing a finger against it. The white space around him faded until all around him was slowly turning black.

“There are others who would like to speak to you before I do, it seems. They seek to steal you from me for the time being.” The voice said, and then that faded too, until he was all alone in the black void.

Behind him, there was the sound of faint tapping, and Percy turned around to find an old woman sitting in a wicker rocking chair, a basket full of yarn to her right, and a sea green scarf beginning to take form in her lap. At the sight of him, she stopped her work for a moment, and Percy felt himself still to a halt. The old lady tusked at herself and then resumed her work, and Percy could move again. The silver knitting needles tapped against each other, the soft sound filling the entire space.

He used that chance to back away, terrified of the old lady. He knew right away who she was, what she represented, and he knew what she held in her hands. Thankfully, the golden shears he had seen her use so long ago were nowhere in sight, so he was reasonably sure that she wasn’t about to end his existence.

“It seems as if our attempt was successful. I assume you have questions?” She whispered, and Percy hesitantly nodded. She shook her head slowly, and beckoned him forward.

“Come, child. We have much to tell you, and it is not pleasant.” She said, and at that last part her voice morphed slightly as did her appearance. Everything around her buzzed, fizzled, and then, like a amoeba splitting into two, a part of her moved to her left and her right. The parts shifted slightly, and then finalized their form, similar looking old ladies in a similar looking chair at her sides, forming the complete trio.

“You come to us as an experiment, far beyond a mere mortal's comprehension. I can not begin to understate how much you intrigue those involved in the movement of fate and destiny.”

“But- Why would I be interesting? Aren’t… you the ones who determine all of that stuff?”

The one on the right chuckled heartily, her own yarn project set aside for now. The golden thread glimmered despite the fact that there was no apparent light source around, just the inky blackness all around.

“Not even we have control over fate, my child. Despite the names you mortals have given us, we merely lend it form. Just as Aphrodite has no complete control over love, fate can not be determined by any being in this or any universe.”

“I didn’t think mortals were the ones to give you your names, I always thought that was what you were always called.” Percy said.

“We are what the mortals believe us to be, as we always have been.” The one on the left spoke up. “The faith of the mortals gives us the power we wield, the same way it gives all higher beings their power in any belief system. Just as Pan fell to forgotten memories, we too can perish if not held in the thoughts of mortals and demigods.”

“But- Aren’t you-”

“Older?” The middle one said, and Percy blushed.

“Yes, I suppose we are old compared to the average mortal, but our history is also subject to change. Once, we were known by different names, in fact some still call us the Moirai, but they are outnumbered, and we are now known as the Fates. Our history can change in a single day if enough mortals are told a story they believe in enough.”

“So your- your past isn’t defined? It can change, even if you've lived past it?”

“Such is the fate of any godly being, child. Despite some of your Olympians thoughts on mortals, we all depend on the strength of mortal worship for any of us to exist, just as the Egyptians, just as the Norse.”

“I think… I think I get it,” Percy said, but he rubbed his head where he had been touched. “But what does that have to do with what’s going on right now? What’s happening to me?”

“A certain… being, shall we say, has taken quite the interest in you, especially concerning you and the boy you wish to save. He has trapped you in an eternal game, unbeknownst to you. You will almost never win, despite what he may say, but he would have you play anyways, just to see your pain. You fascinate him on a level he has never known before, and until you ask him why, we can not say for certain either.” The one on the left said.

“A game? What kind of game? I thought I was just-”

“There is no such thing as choosing, if we must be frank. The entire thing, an elaborate setup to ensnare you in his trap. We have no access to worlds outside our own.”

“So- what have I been doing all this time? I was just trying to save-”

“Save a soul who is trying to move on, yes, you were. You are not the only one caught in this game. The others around you? They too suffer the consequences of your actions, but only you can free them.”

“You mean… Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Will, Piper, Mom, Dad… Even-”

“Yes, they are all being forced to play as well, despite their wishes, and their souls grow tired. They are strained, the game forces them to use more energy than it should, and it is already at a breaking point. If you continue along this path, they will surely suffer for it.”

“So that’s it then? I never had a shot at saving Jason at all?”

The trio hesitated, and it was the middle one who finally spoke up, clearly the leader amongst them.

“There is no certainty in this existence, young Perseus, you must understand this. There will never be a definitive answer that would satisfy you for your question, but it would be next to impossible for Jason’s soul to be saved at this point.”

“Well, why the- Why not?” Percy asked, stopping himself from cussing at one of the oldest beings in the universe.

“Because-” The one of the right said, holding up the glimmering golden scarf that had rested in the arm of her chair. “His journey is done. It is complete, would you not say?” She said, showing him the final project. 

It was a beautiful scarf, he had to admit. It reminded him a little of the Golden Fleece, and she held it out for him to hold. He held the soft fabric lightly, as if he would rip it if he gripped it any harder, and basked in its glory.

“It’s amazing.” He choked out, and gave it back to her so he could wipe the tears forming.

“I agree, and what you want is to add to it. I will not deny that it is possible for more to be added on to it, but doing something like that requires parts to be undone, and it also carries the great risk of what if? What if in the end, it was better like this? What if you add on to it like you want to do, and then you look at it and realize it is ruined beyond repair? Surely you can understand why it would be best to leave it as is?”

“I- I don’t-”

“It is unfair for it to be asked of you, but unfortunately it has forced your hand. When you leave here, you must tell it your choice, and we will have to follow. This is your choice, young Perseus. Do not let anything tell you otherwise. Make your choice, be confident in it. We know whatever you choose, it will be the right one. We believe in you. We always have.”

“Thank you.” Percy said quietly.

“You’ve grown so much since we saw you all those years ago, and you’ve become a fine young man. You must go now, and face it. You are the only one who can.” The middle one said, a fond smile on her face.

“What is it? Who is it? I still don’t know what I’m dealing with here.” Percy said, and he could feel the fading happening around him.

The middle one looked down to think, her hands not pausing on her project.

“Call it…”

Percy faded back into the white abyss, but it wasn't the same stark white he had left it. The air around him crackled with phantom images, sounds, and sensations. He could hear a conversation with his mother at the same time he could see the Camp stretched out before him, all while feeling the brush of someone else's lips against his own. He moved forward, brushing off ghostly impressions of things he had experienced and things he had not. His mind was filled trying to process it all, and he felt like he was drowning in sensation. This was… all of this was…

Chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo..... 
> 
> The next chapter is the finale.


End file.
